Contraband tobacco is becoming a growing problem in Chatham-Kent. 
Dave Bakker, police coordinator with Chatham-Kent Crime Stoppers say it’s an issue local authorities have been struggling with.
“We’re situated between three reserves so there is a lot of contraband tobacco coming off of the reserves we do experience a lot our officers are coming across contraband cigarettes when they stop vehicles. It seems to be on the rise. As the price of tobacco increases the amount of contraband tobacco also seems to go up.”
Authorities with the Ministry of Finance say about a third of cigarettes sold in Ontario are illegal, but that number teds to be higher in southwestern Ontario.
