N.B. must take illegal cigarettes seriously: RCMP

New Brunswick RCMP say they want people in the province to recognize the harm illegal cigarettes cause in the Maritimes.

One in three smokers in the Maritimes uses illegal cigarettes, estimates Cpl. Rob Fullerton of the RCMP's custom and excise division. In October alone, more than 210,000 cigarettes were seized in northern New Brunswick.

Criminals buy the tobacco from growers, make the cigarettes themselves and don't pay taxes, keeping the black market price well below what's charged in stores.

"It's taking away from the convenience store owners, it's taking away from the government," Fullerton said. "Everybody thinks it's a small thing, but all this money that's being generated from these contraband tobaccos is going toward the organized crime groups."

Fullerton says there's also a health issue.

"They sell these cigarettes to youths," he said. "There's no control on them. And, quite frankly, they're creating new cigarette smokers just by the fact that they're cheap."

Many New Brunswickers do not know that not only is distributing contraband tobacco illegal, but it's also illegal to possess it.