Multi-city bust nets largest seizure of contraband cigarettes in B.C. history

A multi-city organized crime investigation has resulted in the largest one-time seizure of contraband cigarettes in B.C. history, along with heaps of weapons, drugs and stolen goods.

Between Jan. 24 and 25, police executed seven search warrants in Abbotsford, Surrey, Langley and Victoria. They hauled in 32 guns, ammunition and body armour, as well as a stolen boat and eight vehicles.

They also seized 11.9 million cigarettes — worth an estimated $11 million — 10 pallets of contraband liquor, half a kilogram of cocaine, 80 kilograms of cannabis, a hydraulic cocaine press and other drug trafficking paraphernalia.

0:36 $211,000 in cash and drugs seized in New Westminster

“Organized crime groups support their criminal enterprise in various ways, including by dealing in illicit commodities,” Sgt. Brenda Winpenny of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of B.C. (CSFEU-BC) said in a Tuesday press conference.

“What we understand from our partners at the Ministry of Finance investigation unit is that contraband tobacco can contribute or is contributing to hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost revenue for the province…. Potentially that lost revenue speaks to the amount of involvement that gangs and organized crime have in the market.”

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Winpenny said the investigation into this particular operation began last August.

Last month, three men and one woman were arrested and released pending charges. Each had connections to organized crime, Winpenny said.