5 charged after 3 stores caught selling illegal tobacco products, province says

Three Winnipeg stores have had their tobacco saleslicences pulled, nearly 50,000 cigarettes seized and five people charged under provincial tax laws for allegedly selling contraband and stolen cigarettes.

The Manitoba Finance taxation special investigations unit seized more than 45,000 illegal tobacco products not marked for Manitoba tax purposes, 3,600 stolen cigarettes and more than $10,000 cash from the stores, a news release from the provincial government says.

Some of the cigarettes were from a Winnipeg break-in, the release says.

The five people found selling or in possession of the illicit tobacco face charges under the Manitoba Tobacco Tax Act and the Tax Administration and Miscellaneous Taxes Act.

The Winnipeg Police Service is looking at placing separate charges for possessing stolen cigarettes, the release says.

Convictions of the people charged could be punished by fines of $1,000 to $10,000 and/or up to six months of jail time. The stores would be subject to a triple tax penalty, which would amount to more than $43,000 because taxes on the cigarettes would have been more than $14,000.