Alberta, Calgary investigators seize $4.5M in contraband tobacco
Posted Jul 29, 2021 10:27 am.
Last Updated Jul 29, 2021 10:29 am.
CALGARY – Two Alberta men have been charged after investigators from Alberta Gaming, Liquor, and Cannabis (AGLC) and the Calgary Police Service seized millions of dollars worth of tobacco.
The AGLC says it, along with CPS and RCMP officers recently searched a storage facility in southeast Calgary and found $4.5 million in contraband tobacco.
The provincial agency estimated the tax revenue lost off the tobacco seized is more than $2.5 million.
The AGLC doesn’t go into too much detail about the tobacco that was seized but says contraband products are anything that doesn’t comply with federal and provincial laws on importation, marketing, and manufacturing.
Anything that comes from illegal manufacturers, counterfeits, tax-exempt diversions, and the resale of stolen legal tobacco are all also considered contraband.
A Calgary man and a Red Deer man are both charged with trafficking contraband tobacco and fraud over $5,000.
They’re scheduled to appear in court at the end of August.
