WINNIPEG -- Manitoba’s finance taxation special investigations unit, along with the RCMP, seized 300,000 contraband cigarettes that were brought into Manitoba by a transport company.
According to the province, the cigarettes were seized on June 8 and two men, aged 36 and 54, were arrested. It said if these cigarettes were sold the government would have missed out on $90,000 in tax revenue.
The two men face charges under the Tobacco Tax Act, and the Tax Administration and Miscellaneous Taxes Act. If convicted, they face fines between $1,000 and $10,000 and up to six months in jail. The men also face a triple tax penalty of $270,000, as well as charges under the Criminal Code of Canada.
None of the charges have been tested in court.
Anyone with information on contraband tobacco is asked to call the police, Crime Stoppers or the Manitoba Finance Special Investigations Unit.
