MONTREAL - Seizing over 600,000 cigarettes smuggled into Canada, RCMP investigators broke up a smuggling ring and arrested eight people in the Quebec City area on Thursday afternoon.

The end of an investigation that started in the summer of 2011, the RCMP also seized $4,000 in cash, 80 counterfeit tablets to treat erectile dysfunction and seven vehicles used as part of the smuggling.

The suspects, five men and three women aged from 20 to 69, will appear in court next week. Officers from the RCMP's customs and excise section arrested the eight in suburbs north of Quebec City.

Speaking to the press on Friday, the RCMP reminded Canadians that it is illegal to own tobacco products that aren't stamped or packaged as required by law.