[IPSM] Fw: RCMP goes on Media Offensive Against "Native-Made Cigarettes"

[shelly]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <stef at tao.ca>
To: <luvnrev at colba.net>
Sent: Wednesday, March 22, 2006 12:19 AM
Subject: RCMP goes on Media Offensive Against "Native-Made Cigarettes"


>
> This just in.  CTV reported tonight on the growing problem of native made
> cigarettes being sold un-taxed to non-natives.  Their report included
> footage from French television station TVA showing an RCMP chase of a
> motorboat carrying cigarettes on the St. Lawrence River.
>
> This is exactly what people have been expecting, the beginning of a media
> offensive to justify upcoming repression.  It is becoming clearer that the
> focus will be on at least primarily on cigarettes.  The focus of this
story
> is on Akwasasne and Kahnawake.
>
> Go to the link below to see the story with pictures.  There is also a link
> to the television report which you can watch.
>
>
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060321/cigarette_smuggling_060321/20060321?hub=Canada
>
> Contraband native cigarettes a growing problem
>
> Updated Tue. Mar. 21 2006 11:30 PM ET
>
> CTV.ca News Staff
>
> Dramatic video of the RCMP chasing smugglers on the St. Lawrence River is
> underscoring the growing problem of native-made contraband cigarettes.
>
> The area on the Quebec-Ontario border is known as smuggler's alley and
lives
> up to its name every night, authorities say.
>
> During a recent routine ride-along in the middle of the night, a Quebec
> television crew got a first-hand look at how the Mounties work.
>
> When officers caught a speed boat in their searchlights, they gave chase
and
> moved in, but the smugglers hurled their illicit cargo overboard.
>
> At one point, they started throwing the cigarette cartons at police.
>
> It's clear, one RCMP investigator said after examining the goods, that the
> native-made cigarettes are contraband because there are no stickers
showing
> any tax was paid.
>
> "We used to see the brand-name cigarettes and now we see it more with the
> native cigarettes," said the RCMP's Cpl. Sylvain L'Heureux.
>
> Native cigarette makers were granted a licence to sell their products to
> natives tax-free, for about half the market price.
>
> "The problem arises when they start selling those cigarettes that don't
have
> duties paid on them, sold to non-natives," L'Heureux said.
>
> Police believe some 2,000 cartons of native-made illegal cigarettes are
> transported every weekend through Akwesasne, which borders Ontario and
> Quebec.
>
> In 2003, native reserves in Quebec had two licensed cigarette
manufacturers.
> By 2005, there were 16 producers.
>
> Meanwhile in Manitoba, sales have risen tenfold in the past couple of
years.
>
> The province wants to limit how much tax-free tobacco can be sold to
status
> Indians at five cartons per person per month -- or just about a pack a
day.
>
> Revenue Canada also wants to inspect the cigarette manufacturers, but it's
> clear in Kahnawake, on Montreal's south shore, that locals want the
> government to butt out.
>
> "We certainly don't encourage that because you're setting yourself up for
> possible confrontations ... and we don't need that," said Joe Delaronde,
of
> the Kahnawake Band Council.
>
> With a report from CTV's Annie deMelt and Jed Kahane
>
>
>