Smugglers nabbed despite creative effort

Smugglers nabbed despite creative effort
One of the vehicles seized during recent CRTF activities is shown loaded with contraband.

By Adam Brazeau 
CORNWALL, Ontario – It’s going to take more than secret compartments and trap doors to fool the Cornwall Regional Task Force.

Two separate cases led the CRTF to three arrests and large amounts of contraband tobacco tucked away in unlikely places.

On the afternoon of September 16, CRTF members received a tip from CBSA officers at Cornwall’s Port of Entry that an overwhelming scent of tobacco was wafting from a Chevrolet pick-up truck driven by a 49-year-old Akwesasne woman.

A search revealed hidden compartments stuffed with 14 cases of contraband cigarettes.

Dana Lisa White was charged under the Excise Act, 2001 for attempting to smuggle contraband tobacco into Canada. She was released on a recognizance with a $500 cash deposit.

One day later, the CRTF Marine unit confronted two Cornwall men on the St Lawrence River in a pontoon boat. Forty-eight cases of contraband cigarettes were found hidden inside six bolted trap door.

Daniel Lalonde, 24, and Kevin Smith, 44, were both released on a Promise to Appear (PTA). 

The Chevy pick-up truck, as well as the men’s modified pontoon boat, a trailer, and a Dodge pick-up truck were seized.

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