BC Crime Stoppers to crack down on the sale of illegal cigarettes
“We’re talking throughout the entire Okanagan region from Osoyoos up to Kamloops,” said LeBlanc.
“It’s a lot of complaints specifically from the convenience store sector who report a lot of activity and regular activity in the contraband tobacco trade.”Story continues below advertisement The provincial government reports that back in 2019, over five million illegal cigarettes were seized during an undercover investigation conducted in partnership with local law enforcement agencies.
The seizure is said to have saved the province $1.4 million in potential tax revenue loss. During that operation approximately 3.6 million cigarettes were seized in Surrey, 1.6 million seized in Vancouver, and 82,000 seized in Kelowna.“What people have to realize as well, is tax revenue is important to fund a lot of the social programs that we depend on so when you have a trade as big as the contraband tobacco trade it makes a significant dent in the revenues that come into the province.
According to the provincial government, retail outlets are regularly inspected to ensure retailers are not selling contraband products.
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