By Adam Brazeau
CORNWALL, Ontario – Law enforcement in the Cornwall area say a sting operation has led to the arrest of a trio of Cornwallites involved with cross-border contraband tobacco smuggling this past summer.
The Cornwall Regional Task Force – Serious and Organized Crime (CRTF-SOC) team said David Frank Delormier, 32, Nathaniel Lee Gatien, 28, and Micheal Mark Durocher, 29, face charges Wednesday, after investigators concluded Project O-Neptune.
The CRTF-SOC said between July 10-11 the three men conspired with one another to acquire, smuggle and attempt to deliver a load of contraband tobacco totaling 471 kilograms from New York State to the Quebec area.
As police conducted surveillance along the shoreline in Cornwall’s east end on July 11, they witnessed Durocher in the process of loading the contraband tobacco into the 2006 Chevrolet Uplander van he was operating.
CRTF-SOC members arrived and arrested him at the scene. He was charged with being in possession of unstamped tobacco.
Delormier and Gatien were arrested on Oct. 22 and charged for their alleged participation in the contraband seizure.
All three men have also been charged with conspiracy.
The CRTF-SOC team works in partnership with Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), Cornwall Community Police Service (CCPS), Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service (AMPS), Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), and the Ontario Ministry of Finance.
