WHITEWOOD – An Edmonton man is facing hefty charges after a traffic stop led to the seizure of 6.6 million illegal cigarettes and 28,800 cigars among his cargo. Back on Dec. 20, 2022, a Highway Patrol officer stopped Mathew Peter Wright, 64, in order to conduct a commercial vehicle inspection. During that stop, the officer made “several observations” that resulted in a Tobacco Tax Act investigation.
“The investigation determined that these cigarettes originated in Ontario and were destined for the Edmonton area. The keen observations of the officer in this investigation resulted in a significant quantity of unstamped tobacco being removed from our highways,” said S/Sgt. Chad McLeod from Combined Traffic Services Saskatchewan. “The terrific partnership between Saskatchewan RCMP’s Roving Traffic Unit, Saskatchewan Highway Patrol and Saskatchewan Ministry of Finance Revenue Enforcement has proven to be invaluable and this is just another example of that.”
Wright was arrested and had his truck and trailer seized as offence-related property. He’s facing charges of possession of unstamped tobacco (cigarettes); possession of unstamped tobacco (cigars); possession of unstamped tobacco for the purpose of sale; possession of proceeds of crime under $5,000; possession of unmarked tobacco that is not black stock (cigarettes); and possession of unmarked tobacco that is not black stock (cigars).
Wright is slated to make his first court appearance on these charges on Feb. 15 in Broadview.
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