WINNIPEG, Manitoba, Nov. 16 (UPI) -- U.S. Dakota Indians say they want rights to do business in Canada after a major seizure of untaxed cigarettes in Manitoba, tribal leaders said.
Provincial tax authorities and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police raided a tobacco shop Tuesday in the town of Pipestone in southwestern Manitoba north of the North Dakota border, the Winnipeg Free Press reported.
Nearly 90,000 cigarettes were seized and deemed as contraband as they didn't have the provincial marking showing taxes had been paid, the report said.
Dakota Plains Chief Orville Smoke told the newspaper the seizure opened the door to a legal challenge in Canadian court.
"I think the point is that we have to have our recognition as Dakota people in Manitoba," Smoke said.
A previous lawsuit against the Canadian government failed, but Smoke said tribal lawyers are working on another one, this time citing status they were guaranteed by a British treaty during the War of 1812, the newspaper said.
A carton of 200 taxed cigarettes in Manitoba sells for almost $100, but cartons from Indians can cost $40 or less, officials said.
