Could your next pack of cigarettes be funding criminal networks? Inside Western Canada’s billion-dollar contraband trade

Western Canada is witnessing a significant surge in the illegal cigarette market, a billion-dollar industry that is increasingly intertwined with organized crime. This illicit trade is not only undermining public health efforts but also diverting essential tax revenues, posing a multifaceted challenge to law enforcement and policymakers. Law enforcement agencies are intensifying efforts to monitor the illicit tobacco trade, seizing contraband products and charging those involved in its distribution.

“We believe, as governments continue to tax and crack down on legal cigarette sales, they’re driving more people to the black market and buying contraband cigarettes,” said Rick Barnum, the executive director of the National Coalition Against Contraband Tobacco and former Ontario Provincial Police deputy commissioner. “There’s not a lot of activity by some governments across the country to counter that.”

According to Barnum, a carton of legally sold cigarettes averages around $150, while a carton of contraband cigarettes can be purchased for roughly $40.


“The challenge that exists for tobacco smokers essentially, is the price.”

The sale of illegal cigarettes strains convenience stores, as much of their income comes from legal tobacco products. Some stores have begun offering contraband tobacco just to stay competitive.

Peter Bruni-Bossio of the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC) highlighted that organized crime groups profit from illegal tobacco sales with minimal risk. “It’s not like selling a kilo of cocaine, where the consequences are far more severe than getting caught with the same value of tobacco,” he explained.

Bruni-Bossio, a senior manager overseeing investigations in northern Alberta, noted that contraband tobacco seizures skyrocketed from 18,000 cartons in the 2020-21 fiscal year to roughly 240,000 cartons in 2024-25. AGLC has shifted its investigative focus toward importers and higher-level criminals, collaborating closely with law enforcement agencies nationwide.

Origin of contraband cigarettes

According to Barnum, most contraband cigarettes originate from First Nations communities in Quebec and Ontario. He said, “This is not an Indigenous issue… If it was truly an Indigenous issue, we’d have perfect drinking water in every Indigenous community in the country and proper housing and everything.”

Barnum explained that organized crime groups have infiltrated certain individuals, forming partnerships that provide access to the supply. While Indigenous communities and producers are federally licensed to produce a limited number of stamped and packaged cigarettes, the seized contraband consists of unstamped cigarettes produced after hours and sold to organized crime by a few individuals who have “lost their way.”

He stresses that provinces can do more to curb contraband tobacco, citing Quebec’s hefty fines and demerit-linked penalties, and lowering legal cigarette prices won’t help, and suggests pausing further tax hikes until law enforcement gains better control over the black market.