By Darryl Greer in Vancouver SURREY, B.C. -Police in British Columbia say they’ve seized more than 27 tonnes of contraband cigarettes worth more than $24 million in a pair of investigations over the past year. Assistant RCMP Commissioner David Teboul said Friday at a news conference that their work involved collaboration with tax fraud investigators from the B.C. Ministry of Finance. He said the seizures of 133,000 cartons of cigarettes is a “major blow to numerous organized crime groups.” “They are the main orchestrators and beneficiaries of contraband tobacco sales, which are highly lucrative,” Teboul said. Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said the most recent raids in Mission, B.C., and Maple Ridge on Feb. 28, involving 67,500 cartons, represented the largest one-time seizure of contraband cigarettes in the province. Farnworth,…
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