East Algoma OPP has seized thousands of dollars in contraband cigarettes.
OPP Constable Bev Gauthier says on Sunday evening police responded to what was thought to be a break and enter in progress at a trailer in the ditch on Highway 17 in the Municipality of Huron Shores.
She says police arrived on the scene and determined it wasn’t a break and enter but a motor vehicle collision involving a pick-up truck towing an enclosed trailer that ended up in the ditch.
Gauthier says police saw boxes containing cigarettes from the overturned trailer being loaded into the pickup.
Officers seized 160 boxes of suspected contraband cigarettes containing 50 cartons in each box and 58 bags of individual packs with an estimated value of over $195,000.
She adds the pick-up, several cell phones, and laptop and over $5,000 were also seized.
Gauthier says two men and a woman all from Gimli, Manitoba, were charged with one count each of possession of unmarked cigarettes and possession of unmarked fine tobacco for sale.
The three are to appear in Sault Ste. Marie Court on August 5th.