Mounties seize $1.7M in contraband cigarettes near Victoria

Officers used a forklift and a flatbed truck to remove the 17,100 cartons – or 171,000 individual packs of illicit cigarettes – from the property, police said. (Handout)

Mounties say a stash of contraband cigarettes valued at more than $1.7 million has been seized from a property near Victoria.

The tobacco was confiscated after police executed a search warrant at a home on Setchfield Avenue in Langford on Dec. 30, 2024, according to a news release Wednesday from the West Shore RCMP.

Officers used a forklift and a flatbed truck to remove the 17,100 cartons – or 171,000 individual packs of illicit cigarettes – from the property, police said.

"This is the largest seizure of contraband cigarettes that the West Shore has ever seen," Const. Nancy Saggar said Wednesday.

No arrests have been made in the case but investigators say fines under the federal Excise Tax Act are likely once the investigation is complete.

"The illicit tobacco trade often utilizes the same drug pipelines that are set up by organized crime groups, therefore contributing to the growth of organized crime," West Shore RCMP Supt. Todd Preston said in the release.

"I commend the efforts of our Drugs and Organized Crime Unit in taking a multifaceted approach to targeting organized crime in the West Shore."

Police say the sale of illicit tobacco undercuts Canada's economic integrity by decreasing tax revenues that would otherwise support government-funded social programs.