CORNWALL, Ontario — Two Akwesasne, Ontario, residents have been charged with having 200,000 contraband cigarettes, while an attempted vehicle stop Wednesday by the Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service resulted in the seizure of 350,000 cigarettes.

The two people, whose identities were not released by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, are facing charges under the Canadian Excise Act 2001 for possession of tobacco products not properly stamped.

RCMP Sgt. Michael Harvey said Friday evening it is the agency's policy not to release the offenders' names until they have appeared in court. In this case, the two were released on their own recognizance to appear in court at a later date.

Sgt. Harvey said the pair's arrest followed a traffic stop Wednesday by Ontario Provincial Police in Cornwall. While questioning the female driver of a Ford pickup truck about an expired driver's license, the OPP officer detected a strong odor of tobacco coming from the vehicle.

Members of the RCMP Cornwall detachment were contacted and seized 1,000 cartons of cigarettes.

The cigarettes, believed to have been manufactured in the United States and smuggled into Canada, have an estimated value of $22,000. The Ford truck, valued at about $17,000, also was seized.

"We are concerned that organized crime groups are making huge profits from the illicit tobacco trade," Sgt. Harvey said. "People need to be aware that they are funding criminal activity if they purchase tobacco products not sold legitimately."

Akwesasne Mohawk police and the RCMP also seized 350,000 cigarettes from an abandoned truck Wednesday after the driver fled from police.

Sgt. Harvey said a tribal police officer saw three vehicles fail to stop for a stop sign about 10:30 p.m. in Akwesasne.

When the officer tried to stop the first vehicle, a 2008 Dodge pickup truck, the drivers of the other two vehicles interfered with the stop by slowing down in front of the police vehicle. The officer later found the Dodge pickup in Cornwall, where it had been abandoned following a collision with another vehicle. Witnesses told police the driver fled the area on foot.

RCMP officers from the Cornwall detachment arrived and seized the vehicle, worth an estimated $30,000, and 350,000 cigarettes packaged in 1,750 resealable plastic bags.

The cigarettes have an estimated value of $38,500 and also are believed to have been manufactured in the United States.