Province seizes illegal cigarettes from Winnipeg stores

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This article was published 21/04/2022 (1371 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Provincial tax investigators have seized hundreds of thousands of illegal cigarettes from numerous stores in Winnipeg.

Twenty-four people face a variety of tax and criminal offences, and investigators also seized a vehicle.

Manitoba Finance’s taxation special investigations unit made the seizures following a “lengthy” probe into stores suspected of possessing and selling the illegal smokes to adults and minors, the province said in a news release Thursday.

Investigators seized a total 836,354 cigarettes — including “Flight” brand smokes that are illegal to possess in Canada — from 10 stores, mostly in the North End, including: Esso Gas on Salter Street; Magnus Foods on Main Street; Giant Food Mart and Quickie Mart on Selkirk Avenue; P & P Food Market on McGregor Street; Mom & Dad’s Grocery on Mountain Avenue; North End Stop on Notre Dame Avenue; Muncheez on Dufferin Avenue; and St. Anne’s Stop and Shop on St. Anne’s Road.

The illegal cigarettes represent more than $250,900 in tax revenue that would be normally paid to the province, the release said.

First-time tax act offenders face fines between $1,000 and $10,000 and/or up to six months imprisonment, as well as a potential triple tax penalty of $752,718.60, the province said.

The province said the illegal smokes can pose increased health and fire hazards, as the cigarettes aren’t regulated and may lack the self-extinguishing features of regulated brands.