Two men were arrested in what RCMP are billing as a major tobacco contraband seizure after pulling over a vehicle in Deer Lake on Tuesday. A 22-year-old man from Gambo and a 55-year-old man from Cormack have been bailed to appear in court at a later date. As part of an ongoing investigation by the RCMP’s Federal Serious and Organized Crime Unit based in Gander, RCMP stopped a truck towing a 15-foot trailer. Officers found 7,500 cartons of contraband tobacco, 100 cartons of illegal cigars, a small amount of marijuana and some Canadian currency. A carton of contraband tobacco currently sells for $55 to $60, bringing the total street value of the seized tobacco to the region of $425,000. This would represent an approximate loss to the Newfoundland and Labrador Government Treasury of $1.65 million.
