**Despite unusually icy road conditions, Burns Lake RCMP observed a Chev truck travelling at 145 kph in a 100 kph zone on Nov. 22.
When police stopped the vehicle they discovered an adult man and a two-year-old child in the truck. driven by a 28-year-old woman who had no valid driver's licence.
The vehicle was impounded and the driver charged accordingly, said RCMP Staff Sgt. Mike Kisters, detachment commander.
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On Nov. 24th about supper time (5:20 p.m.) Burns Lake RCMP attended an incident in which a 21-year-old man had assaulted an 18-year-old male with a frying pan. Police are requesting charges of assault with a weapon. "Alcohol abuse appears to be a major contributing factor to this incident," said Kisters in his media report for Nov. 29.
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The largest shipment of counterfeit cigarettes ever encountered in B.C. were seized in Richmond from a container vessel by RCMP and Canada Border Services Agency.
The seizure Nov. 1 of approximately 10,000,000 contraband cigarettes led to charges being laid against a man from Burnaby and six Chinese men, said Cst. Michael McLaughlin, media relations officer, Federal Programs, E Division.
Two days prior to the seizure a suspicious shipment was referred for examination after x-rays showed inconsistencies with documents from China where the container originated. A full examination uncovered 51,000 cartons of undeclared cigarettes hidden inside the shipment deemed to contain roofing nails, screw kits, cutting blades and other tools.
The RCMP's Federal Border Integrity Program, which confirmed the shipment contained more than 10,000,000 cigarettes with an estimated commercial value of $4,900,000.
On Nov. 1 the RCMP BIP arrested the group of seven as they were in the process of unloading the counterfeit cigarettes, said McLaughlin.
The men have since been released, but the RCMP and CBSA will be forwarding charges including smuggling (under the Customs Act), possession of unlawfully imported goods (under the Customs Act), and improperly stamped tobacco (under the Excise Act). Maximum sentences for each offence include five years in jail and fines of up to $500,000.
The seizure of cigarettes was the largest in B.C. history, being slightly larger than an April 15 cigarette bust which uncovered about 50,000 cartons of cigarettes alos in a shipping container.
McLaughlin said such large-scale shipments involve cigarette manufacturers, shippers, distributors and retailers.
"There is little doubt that only organized crime has the money or resources for this kind of enterprise. The cigarettes in these shipments have little or no quality control and represent a health risk above and beyond what most smokers expect.
"The provincial government also loses out on taxes that could normally be funnelled back into health care and other worthy public projects," McLaughlin said.
