Authorities in Six Nations say no arrests were made on their territory Wednesday relating to illegal tobacco – even though the provincial police force in Quebec claims otherwise.
On Wednesday, nearly 60 people were arrested as part of what the Sureté du Quebec called Operation Tarantula – an investigation into an organized crime ring allegedly spanning North America, South America and Europe.
Among the arrests was a 38-year-old Ohsweken resident, who will face a number of fraud-related charges.
The SQ said it conducted 70 raids Wednesday in connection with that investigation – mostly in Quebec, but also at least one in Six Nations.
The elected council and police service of Six Nations say that’s not true.
“Six Nations of the Grand River was not involved in the searches conducted,” the authorities said in a press release.
“No arrests were made relating to contraband tobacco, by the Sureté du Quebec or any other law enforcement body, throughout the morning of Wednesday, March 30, 2016.”
According to the SQ, the raids targeted a collaboration between biker gangs and aboriginal criminals to buy tobacco in the United States and smuggle it into Canada, where it was allegedly sold in Six Nations and on a Quebec reserve.
"They were really structured. They had contacts everywhere in the legal side of it also, in transportation,” Frederic Gaudreault of the SQ told CTV Montreal.
In total, the SQ says it seized 52,800 kilograms of tobacco – worth an estimated $13.5 million – as part of the raids, as well as more than $1.5 million in Canadian money, nearly $3 million in American money, 836 kilograms of cocaine, 21 kilograms of methamphetamine, and 16 kilograms of marijuana.
Authorities believe the smuggling ring had moved more than 2 million pounds of tobacco since August 2014.
With files from CTV Montreal
