Whether it's because of ignorance, wilful blindness or the perception that it's a victimless transaction, smokers who flock to Six Nations to buy cheap cigarettes may not realize they're breaking the law.

"I'm not sure that a lot of people perceive it as a crime," said Inspector Derek Simmonds, director of the RCMP's Customs and Excise branch. "It doesn't register that way because the product itself is legal, as opposed to the analogy of drugs."

While cigarettes themselves are legal, it's illegal to possess cigarettes that have not been properly stamped for tax purposes, or don't carry the required labels and packaging.

"The three main things that tell you whether it's legal or not is the price, the packaging and where you're buying them from," said Corporal Marc LaPorte, spokesperson for the RCMP's Ontario division.

"If you're going out of your way to go onto a reserve to buy cigarettes from a smoke shack, or someone selling them out of the back of the car, or someone at work who sells them out of his locker, that tells you that it's illegal," LaPorte added. "You can justify it in your mind that you didn't know, but those are all signs you should know that it's illegal."

The penalties for possession of contraband tobacco can range from a minimum fine of 16.5 cents per cigarette confiscated up to 24.6 cents per cigarette and a maximum jail term of five years. In addition, the purchaser's vehicle can be seized under the Excise Act.

Six Nations Police Deputy Chief Rocky Smith said charges aren't pursued on the reserve against non-natives who purchase cigarettes illegally, and once they exit the reserve, "we don't enforce stuff off the reserve."

"That's the other police forces' area," Smith said.

LaPorte said the RCMP doesn't have the resources to focus enforcement activities on individuals purchasing contraband smokes for their own use, even though it's illegal.

"We don't target those people," he said.

"If you were going on-reserve and buying three or four cases of cigarettes and then going back home, then you'd catch our interest."

RCMP Staff Sergeant Tim Ranger of the Customs and Excise branch said the illegal purchase of cigarettes on reserves perpetuates a cycle that encourages more illicit manufacturing, which, in the end, helps support organized crime elements.

"Sure, you may be only paying $10 for 200 cigarettes, but then again, you're not paying for social programs" Ranger said. "The taxes you're paying pay for a whole bunch of social programs we're faced with here in Canada."

What is contraband tobacco?

Contraband tobacco is any tobacco product that does not comply with the provisions of all applicable federal and provincial statutes. This includes importation, stamping, marking, manufacturing, distributing and payment of duties and taxes.

Contraband products are currently entering the Canadian tobacco market through four major sources:

* Products that are unlawfully or lawfully manufactured in the U.S. and then smuggled into Canada, or unlawfully manufactured in Canada;

* Counterfeit tobacco products that enter the country illegally;

* Diverted GST/HST-relieved and provincial tax-exempt tobacco products;

* Products from convenience store and cargo thefts, truck hijackings.

Source: RCMP Contraband Tobacco Enforcement Strategy