Police swept in and arrested six men as they were unloading a container of two million counterfeit cigarettes destined for the streets of Toronto on Wednesday. The smokes were made in China and shipped into the country labelled as pens and markers.

The packages of du Maurier regulars and Player's were indistinguishable from the real thing -- including health warning and tobacco tax tear strips. The high quality packaging reflects the sophistication of the smugglers, police say.

"When you are dealing with shipments of this size, it is not just a small group of people who said 'let's make a little bit of money' -- we are definitely looking at some kind of organized group," RCMP Const. Howard Adams told CTV.ca.

Adams said the cache, had it been sold, would represent a tax loss of more than $500,000 . Earlier this summer, more than 127,000 cartons of smuggled cigarettes valued at $9.3 million were seized in the Port of Vancouver.

The appearance of Canadian brands on the black market is a new phenomenon. In the past, smugglers have focused on counterfeit American brands such as Marlboro.

The first two shipments that were seized in B.C. were accompanied by documents falsely indicating the containers were carrying paper products, while the third purported to hold picture frames.

The RCMP and Canada Customs have yet to identify the organized crime group behind the cigarette smuggling. They are also trying to determine if the incidents are linked.

"We believe they are linked but we are investigating so there is no concrete evidence yet," Tracey Robinson of Canada Customs said.

The RCMP suspect an organized crime gang has opened up a new smuggling pipeline and is now flooding Canada with counterfeit cigarettes.

"So I think collectively we have to be very concerned because this is not just about tobacco...it's about organized crime having access to this huge pipeline," RCMP chief superintendent Ben Soave said.

Adams said he did not believe the smugglers were targeting any specific part of the country, but were taking their products to wherever they could find a market. He added organized groups are often involved with other contraband.

"Organized groups are not tied to one commodity they are smuggling cigarettes, or weapons, or people, or drugs," Adams said.

Police are concerned the smuggled cigarettes may be dangerous to people's health, since the tobacco is of poor quality and may contain other substances.

"The tobacco in them is not really good. It's called dirty tobacco. It has seeds in it and stems," RCMP Cpl. Michele Paradis said.

Soave said that those who buy smuggled cigarettes are contributing to organized crime and defrauding the government.

Based on report from CTV's Peter Murphy