EDMONTON — Alberta has charged an aboriginal leader and three other people after police seized 16 million contraband cigarettes.
The smokes were found in January on a reserve in the Hobbema area south of Edmonton.
The Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission says the cigarettes were found in a Quonset hut were not stamped for sale in the province.
Officials estimate the contraband cigarettes would cost the province about $3 million in lost tax revenue.
Four people have been charged under Alberta’s Tobacco Tax Act with offences that carry a maximum fine of $20,000, six months in jail, or both.
They include Chief Carolyn Buffalo of the Montana First Nation, Robbie Dickson, Dwayne Ouimet and Jason Dickson.