MONTREAL, Quebec – Local police, as well as the Canada Border Services Agency, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, have dismantled a large tobacco smuggling ring that reached across the Canadian border into the United States, the Vancouver Sun reports. Allegedly, the group had Mafia and aboriginal organized crime links.

Most of the illegal tobacco making its way into Canada via this group came by truck from North Carolina. The bust has been labeled the biggest investigation into illegal tobacco in North America. Throughout Quebec, police raided several locations, arresting 28 people and seizing around 88,000 pounds of contraband tobacco worth about $7 million, nearly a half million dollars in cash, and 1,300 marijuana plants.

“This case ... has a direct impact on both of our countries,” said U. S. Homeland Security official James Spiro at a news conference on Wednesday. “When we take contraband and money from criminal groups, we're significantly impacting their ability to operate.”

The Canadian convenience store industry has been vocal in its support of police crackdowns on contraband tobacco. Canadian retailers recently expressed their concern that higher tobacco taxes would lead to more contraband tobacco in the country.