Dramatic video of the RCMP chasing smugglers on the St. Lawrence River is underscoring the growing problem of native-made contraband cigarettes.

The area on the Quebec-Ontario border is known as smuggler's alley and lives up to its name every night, authorities say.

During a recent routine ride-along in the middle of the night, a Quebec television crew got a first-hand look at how the Mounties work.

When officers caught a speed boat in their searchlights, they gave chase and moved in, but the smugglers hurled their illicit cargo overboard.

At one point, they started throwing the cigarette cartons at police.

It's clear, one RCMP investigator said after examining the goods, that the native-made cigarettes are contraband because there are no stickers showing any tax was paid.

"We used to see the brand-name cigarettes and now we see it more with the native cigarettes," said the RCMP's Cpl. Sylvain L'Heureux.

Native cigarette makers were granted a licence to sell their products to natives tax-free, for about half the market price.

"The problem arises when they start selling those cigarettes that don't have duties paid on them, sold to non-natives," L'Heureux said.

Police believe some 2,000 cartons of native-made illegal cigarettes are transported every weekend through Akwesasne, which borders Ontario and Quebec.

In 2003, native reserves in Quebec had two licensed cigarette manufacturers. By 2005, there were 16 producers.

Meanwhile in Manitoba, sales have risen tenfold in the past couple of years.

The province wants to limit how much tax-free tobacco can be sold to status Indians at five cartons per person per month -- or just about a pack a day.

Revenue Canada also wants to inspect the cigarette manufacturers, but it's clear in Kahnawake, on Montreal's south shore, that locals want the government to butt out.

"We certainly don't encourage that because you're setting yourself up for possible confrontations ... and we don't need that," said Joe Delaronde, of the Kahnawake Band Council.

With a report from CTV's Annie deMelt and Jed Kahane