6 accused of smuggling smokes from China

CBC News Posted: Oct 02, 2009

Six people are facing charges after police seized 200,000 contraband Chinese cigarettes smuggled to Halifax.

The four men and two women were arrested in the Halifax area Wednesday after a joint investigation by RCMP, the Canada Border Services Agency and the Canada Revenue Agency.

The accused are:

• Xinyu Wang, 25
• Lei Shi, 23
• Ye Dong, 22
• MeiJie Gao, 22
• Bo Yuan He, 22
• Qing Liang Wang, 21

The RCMP said the investigation began in August when CBSA officers noticed large, flat cardboard boxes — labelled as samples of insulating board — frequently arriving in Halifax from Shanghai.

At first, CBSA officers found two parcels of illegally imported Chinese-brand cigarettes. Staff Sgt. Al Harding of the Halifax RCMP said an investigation revealed about 30 additional parcels were imported between August and September.

"They mislabelled the goods," he said. "They were packaged in the cardboard with wood grain to make it look like they were insulation boards."

Officials say this is the first seizure of its kind in the Atlantic region. ((CBC))

Harding said the Chinese cigarettes — which had never been seized in the Atlantic region before — were likely intended to be repackaged in Halifax and couriered to various places in Ontario and Alberta. It's not known if any were destined for a local market.

Investigators said they seized three vehicles and 1,000 cartons that each contained 200 cigarettes.

Dave Aggett of the CBSA said the goods represent thousands of dollars in tax revenue.

"If we're looking at a box with only 30 cartons in it, that's $3,000 worth of cigarettes. If we were to assume even half of that was tax, then there's $1,500 worth of lost tax right there," he said.

The six suspects face a number of charges:

• Possession and distribution of illegally imported goods under the Customs Act.
• Possession of unstamped tobacco under the Excise Act.
• Two charges under the Revenue Act.

Aggett said officials believe the suspects are all Chinese citizens.