Revenu Québec fines $2.2 million for peddling contraband cigarettes

Revenu Québec has fined 12 people a total of $2,258,618 for selling contraband cigarettes.

Those fined – including four people from the Kahnawake Mohawk territory on Montreal's South Shore – are accused of selling, delivering or possessing illegal tobacco for retail sale in Quebec.

Revenu Québec says none of them were registered to sell tobacco with the agency.

A spokesman for the Kahnawake Mohawk Council says the council couldn't comment on the specific individuals facing fines.

However, Joe Delaronde said the council is working towards resolving the community's differences over tobacco sales with the Quebec ministry.

There are dozens of cigarette sales shops both in Kahnawake and its sister communities of Kanesatake, northwest of Montreal, and Akwesasne, which straddles the U.S.-Canada border near Cornwall, Ont.

Cracking down at the border

Meanwhile, the spokesman for a task force charged with clamping down on cross-border tobacco smuggling said there is a steady stream of contraband tobacco products still being moved across the border.

Const. Jean Juneau of the Cornwall Regional Task Force – a policing group made up of representatives of the Canadian Border Services Agency, the RCMP, the Ontario Provincial Police and the Ontario Ministry of Finance – said the task force made five arrests for smuggling illegal tobacco over the border last month alone.

Juneau because of the size of the border, it's difficult to police effectively.

"It's just a matter of being in the right place at the right time," he said.

Those arrested last month have been charged under the federal Excise Act and are also facing charges under Ontario's Tobacco Tax Act for possession of unmarked cigarettes.

Juneau told CBC News more arrests will be announced in the coming days.