Two articles respectively published yesterday and today regarding contraband, or illegal, tobacco:

Federal, provincial governments target illegal tobacco with new funding
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/can...ernments-target-illegal-tobacco-with-new

The RCMP has estimated that there are roughly 175 organized-crime groups in Canada with ties to the illicit tobacco market.

Earlier this month, the Sûreté du Québec announced the takedown of a mass tobacco-importation scheme that they allege had ties to Italian and Indigenous organized-crime groups.

Project Olios, which began in June of 2016 and was conducted in partnership with the Canada Border Services Agency and partners on both sides of the border, focused on individuals illegally importing tobacco from the United States, through the Lansdowne and Fort Erie border crossings, to be sold on the Kahnawake territory in Quebec.
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Organized crime behind contraband tobacco costs governments billions
http://ctv.news/A6xXsMP

Dubbed ‘Project Mygale,’ the nearly two-year-long operation tracked raw tobacco that was purchased in the United States, smuggled into Canada at three separate border crossings, and turned into cigarettes at manufacturing plants on First Nations reserves in Ontario and Quebec.

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