A Delta man is facing several charges after police in Saskatchewan seized millions of alleged illegal cigarettes from a trailer he was hauling.
According to a press release issued last week, officers with Swift Current Rural RCMP were called to assist after Saskatchewan Highway Patrol stopped a tractor and trailer on Highway 1 approximately 14 kilometres west of Swift Current on Tuesday, Feb. 18.
Officers searched the semi and the trailer, locating and seizing approximately 7.5 million unstamped cigarettes.
The adult male driver, who police say was travelling from Toronto to British Columbia, was arrested at the scene.
鈥淥ur officers, while working in conjunction with our partnering agency, prevented over 7,000,000 cigarettes from entering the illegal market,鈥� Supt. Murray Chamberlin, deputy criminal operations officer for the Saskatchewan RCMP, said in a press release. 鈥淭his is yet another example of the dedicated work of our officers and our province, who work together to keep Saskatchewan communities safe.鈥�
Saskatchewan Minister of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety, Tim Mcleod, said the operation is yet another example of Saskatchewan Highway Patrol's ongoing efforts to prevent illicit substances from reaching communities, proving their dedication to public safety.
鈥淭his type of criminal activity can have widespread repercussions on our communities by creating opportunities for further trafficking crime and negatively affecting our economy and small businesses. We applaud the work being done by our policing agencies for the benefit of our province.鈥�
Sherry Kavukattu, 24, from Delta, is charged with one count of selling, offering for sale, transporting, delivering, distributing or having in his possession for the purpose of sale a tobacco product, or a raw leaf tobacco, that is unstamped, counter to Section 121.1(1) of the Criminal Code; one count of selling, offering for sale or having in his possession a tobacco product unstamped, counter to Section 32(1) of the Excise Act; and one count of possessing, storing, transporting or selling tobacco that is not marked in a prescribed manner, counter to Section 11(8) of the Saskatchewan Tobacco Tax Act.
Kavukattu is not currently in custody and is scheduled to appear in Swift Current Provincial Court on April 2.
