Police shut down tobacco manufacturing facility in Six Nations

An illegal tobacco manufacturer’s business may be going up in smoke after the police executed a search warrant on Wednesday.

A heavy police presence was reported in Six Nations of the Grand River on Wednesday morning as officers from multiple agencies executed a warrant at a tobacco manufacturing facility.

Both Ontario Provincial Police and Six Nations Police were on scene.

OPP confirmed there was an active investigation in the area of Chiefswood Road between 3rd and 4th Lines. Chiefswood Road was closed for a time but has since reopened, according to a social media post.

Six Nations Police said the OPP’s Organized Crime Enforcement Bureau assisted them in executing a warrant at a property in the area. The investigation targeted a tobacco manufacturer who police said was “operated by a non-Indigenous criminal network who do not reside on the territory.”

According to police, profits from the operation were not invested in or used by the Six Nations community.

Police have not released further details about the operation at this time.