{"id":103979,"date":"2017-07-14T14:45:21","date_gmt":"2017-07-14T18:45:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/?p=103979\/"},"modified":"2017-07-17T16:59:49","modified_gmt":"2017-07-17T20:59:49","slug":"strange-phenomenon-the-quebec-wave-of-old-age-tobacco-smugglers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/strange-phenomenon-the-quebec-wave-of-old-age-tobacco-smugglers\/","title":{"rendered":"Strange Phenomenon: The Quebec Wave Of Old Age Tobacco Smugglers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>We know that the prolonged decline in interest rates over the past 10 years has had a significant impact on retiree incomes. Consequently, many people find themselves with less to support themselves.<\/p>\n<p>But what we did not know was that a growing number of our beloved elders would choose, in desperation, to turn to selling contraband tobacco to make their ends meet. What a sad reality!<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, how else can we explain the wave of old age tobacco smugglers that is sweeping over Quebec?<\/p>\n<p>See by yourself:<\/p>\n<p><strong>July 2017<\/strong> (Jonqui\u00e8re, source: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lelacstjean.com\/faits-divers\/2017\/7\/13\/trois-perquisitions-anti-tabac-de-contrebande.html\">Le Lac St-Jean<\/a>\u00a0weekly)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>71 years old:<\/strong> On Labrecque Street in Jonqui\u00e8re, the police found 60 packs of 200 cigarettes valued at $ 3900, 10 packs of 20 cigarettes and a Cadillac Escalade 2011 vehicle. Cigarettes were seized in the vehicle and a 71-year-old man was arrested. The investigation determined that he was acting as a supplier to third parties;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>65 years old<\/strong>: A 65-year-old man was arrested in a dwelling on the rue de Nantes in Jonquiere, where he had 14 packs of 200 cigarettes worth $ 1,320 and five cartons (8 packs of 25 cigarettes), a value of $ 330.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>March 2017<\/strong> (Lavaltrie and Chicoutimi, sources: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lapresse.ca\/le-nouvelliste\/justice-et-faits-divers\/201703\/21\/01-5080779-contrebande-de-tabac-un-sexagenaire-sera-accuse.php\">Le Nouvelliste<\/a>\u00a0et le <a href=\"http:\/\/www.courrierdusaguenay.com\/faits-divers\/2017\/3\/15\/tabac-de-contrebande---un-homme-de-79-ans-arrete.html\">Courrier du Saguenay<\/a>)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>64 years old<\/strong>: A police operation conducted by the S\u00fbret\u00e9 du Qu\u00e9bec led to a search of a vehicle that was traveling on Highway 40 in Lavaltrie. It was at this point that a 64-year-old man was arrested by the police with 52,000 cigarettes and money;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>79\u00a0years old<\/strong>: The Saguenay police conducted a search in Chicoutimi. A 79-year-old man was arrested there. A case of various brands and a 2005 Subaru Forester was seized with a total value of approximately $ 6,750. This is the second search of this individual&#8217;s home this year. The same address and the same vehicle were targeted by police officers earlier in 2017.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>February 2017<\/strong> (L&#8217;Islet and Drummondville, sources : <a href=\"http:\/\/cmatv.ca\/operation-de-la-surete-du-quebec-contre-la-contrebande-de-tabac-a-l-islet-2017-02-27\/\">CMATV.ca<\/a>\u00a0et\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.lapresse.ca\/la-tribune\/justice-et-faits-divers\/201702\/05\/01-5066460-120-000-cigarettes-saisies-a-drummondville.php\">La Tribune<\/a>)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>59 and 62 years old:<\/strong> During a search, police seized about 8,500 contraband cigarettes and more than two kilos of bulk tobacco. The police arrested two women aged 59 and 62;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>70 years old<\/strong>: The S\u00fbret\u00e9 du Qu\u00e9bec conducted three searches in residences in the Drummondville area, arresting and seizing nearly 120,000 illegal cigarettes. The three individuals intercepted, a septuagenarian and a man and woman in their fifties, are suspected of being involved in a network of tobacco smuggling. The police seized 593 bags of 200 cigarettes, $ 1,310, and a vehicle.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>June 2016<\/strong> (Asbestos,\u00a0sources:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.lapresse.ca\/la-tribune\/justice-et-faits-divers\/201606\/09\/01-4990147-trafic-illicite-la-sq-tombe-sur-un-autre-septuagenaire.php\">La Tribune<\/a>\u00a0and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lapresse.ca\/la-tribune\/justice-et-faits-divers\/201606\/07\/01-4989350-deux-septuagenaires-interpelles-en-lien-avec-la-contrebande-de-cigarettes.php\">here<\/a>)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>76 and 78 years old:<\/strong> The S\u00fbret\u00e9 du Qu\u00e9bec (SQ) seized 30 packs of 200 cigarettes and more than $ 2,000 in money in a residence on Coakley Boulevard. They arrested a 76-year-old woman involved in a contraband tobacco network operating in the Asbestos area. \u00a0Another septuagenarian from Asbestos was also arrested. The 78-year-old man may also have to face charges in connection with contraband tobacco.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>August 2015<\/strong> (Shawinigan, source: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lapresse.ca\/le-nouvelliste\/justice-et-faits-divers\/201508\/03\/01-4890009-trois-septuagenaires-epingles-pour-contrebande-de-tabac.php\">Le Nouvelliste<\/a>)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>72 to 75 years old:<\/strong> The police got their hands on 75,000 contraband cigarettes and $ 9,000. Money and a minivan were seized as offense property. Three men aged 72 to 75 should appear at the Shawinigan Courthouse.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This long list is only scratching the surface.<\/p>\n<p>Presumably, the popularity of contraband tobacco among our elders is first and foremost due to its availability, courtesy of a government that tolerates the open sale of contraband tobacco on Native reserves.<\/p>\n<p>Nothing could be easier, indeed! One only needs to purchase a case of 50 cartons of contraband tobacco in the reserve for the small amount of $ 400 and then resell it all at $ 25 apiece for a nice quick profit of $ 1,250, tax and duty free.<\/p>\n<p>This, then, is another adverse effect of government excessive tobacco taxes: <strong>the corruption of our elders!<\/strong><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Photo credit: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/people\/v1ctor\/\">Victor<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We know that the prolonged decline in interest rates over the past 10 years has had a significant impact on<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":104042,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1749,223,1737],"tags":[1197,853,1294],"class_list":["post-103979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-misc","category-newsdep","category-tobacco-ecig","tag-contraband-tobacco-en","tag-contraband-tobacco","tag-seniors"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/bad-grandpaopt.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103979"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103979\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depquebec.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}