A two-day joint police operation targeting cigarette smuggling in Eastern Ontario has netted 12 people.

RCMP worked with several other police jurisdictions and stopped 11 cars during the operation.

In one bust on Monday, police pulled two people over on Highway 401 near Cornwall, Ont. and found several boxes of contraband cigarettes in the car's trunk.

Vehicles targeted in this operation were stopped in the following areas:

  • South Glengarry, Ont. (one vehicle)
  • Prescott, Ont. (one vehicle)
  • Cornwall, Ont. (four vehicles)
  • Vaudreuil, Que. (two vehicles)
  • Coteau-du-Lac, Que. (one vehicle)
  • Montr�al (two vehicles)

Vehicles, cigarettes and fine cut tobacco were all seized during the operation.

Those charged in the bust were from Cornwall, Ont. Akwesasne, parts of Quebec and New York State.

Police say 90 per cent of all contraband cigarettes in Canada are manufactured on Akwesasne territory near Cornwall.

Check out CTV's special report on smuggled smokes and the Underground Economy