MONTREAL - Montreal police in conjunction with the Surete du Quebec and the RCMP have broken up a contraband cigarette ring.

200 officers from the three forces raided two dozen locations and arrested 20 people Thursday as part of Operation Mobile conducted by the ACCES group against the black market.

The contraband smokes, provided by three distributors in Kahnawake, were sold in homes throughout Montreal and the Laurentians, depanneurs, or delivered directly to buyers.

Officers seized nearly half a million cigarettes, along with six stolen cars, more than 1,000 marijuana plants, and several kilograms of pot, hashish, and cocaine.

Police say the black marketeers were selling 50 to 100 cases of cigarettes every week, thereby keeping $100,000 in sales taxes out of government coffers.

14 men and two women arrested face charges of fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud, while police are also recommending several suspects be charged with drug possession with intent to traffic.

The four other people arrested are facing charges of grand theft and marijuana production.