This Wednesday, December 20, Revenu Québec announced the conviction of seven offenders found guilty of tobacco smuggling offences. One of them, David Buchanan, 26, of Longueuil, was intercepted on November 18, 2021, on Rivière-Beaudette territory. 

The accused will be fined a total of $1,080,520.01, and will spend 90 days behind bars in one case and 60 days in another. For his part, Mr. Buchanan will have to repay $120,000 to the court for his offence. 

The facts of the case date back to November 18, 2021, when the accused was intercepted following a surveillance operation carried out in the Rivière-Beaudette area by officers of the Sûreté du Québec and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

As a result of this operation, he was charged with transporting 81 bags containing a total of nearly 1,480 kg of contraband tobacco. He pleaded guilty to the charge. In addition to paying the fine imposed by the court, his driver's license is currently suspended for 30 days.

Like his co-defendants, David Buchanan was charged with the following activities:

- having sold, delivered or had in their possession tobacco intended for retail sale in Quebec and
the package of which was not identified in accordance with the Tobacco Tax Act;
- have transported tobacco intended for sale, the package of which was not identified in accordance with the Tobacco Tax Act;
- not be registered with Revenu Québec or hold any of the permits required by law to carry out commercial activities related to tobacco products.