The largest one-time seizure of contraband tobacco in B.C. – 35 pallets worth approximately $11 million – recently occurred during an investigation led by the province’s Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit.
The cigarettes were among the items seized in the investigation that led to search warrants being executed and four people arrested in Langley, Abbotsford, Surrey and Victoria.
A release issued Tuesday morning (Feb. 13) states that the investigation led by the CFSEU-BC began in August 2023 into an alleged drug- and contraband-tobacco trafficking organization.
“The investigation quickly expanded to multiple jurisdictions around the Lower Mainland and southern Vancouver Island and the investigators determined that the suspects involved were connected to gangs and organized crime,” the release states.
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The CFSEU, with support from partner police agencies, executed seven search warrants on Jan. 24 and 25 in the four communities.
In addition to the tobacco, the items seized were:
• 32 firearms, including handguns, assault rifles, and shotguns;
• a “large quantity” of ammunition;
• body armour;
• 10 pallets of contraband liquor;
• half a kilogram of cocaine;
• 80 kilograms of marijuana;
• drug paraphernalia;
• eight vehicles, including a Porsche Cayenne; and
• a speedboat.
The four people arrested have been released from custody as they make their way through the courts.
Sgt. Brenda Winpenny of the CFSEU said the items seized point to how “organized crime groups support their criminal enterprise in various ways, including by dealing in illicit commodities.
“We will continue to aggressively pursue members of organized crime groups and their associates, holding them accountable for the harm they bring to our communities,” she said.
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