The alleged scam involves individuals jamming cases of "brick" cheese — used as a common pizza topping — into their vehicles to smuggle across the border and resell to Canadian pizzerias and restaurants. (iStock) 
 
 Three men, including one current and one former police officer from the Niagara Falls area, have been charged in connection with an international cheese-smuggling network. 
 
 The alleged scheme involved the purchase of cheese and other food products in the United States. The food was re-sold in Canada without anyone paying duty. 
 
 Authorities say more than $200,000 worth of food was purchased, and sold at a profit of more than $165,000. 
 
 As CBC News reported earlier this week, the alleged scam involves individuals jamming cases of "brick" cheese — used as a common pizza topping — into their vehicles to smuggle across the border and resell to Canadian pizzerias and restaurants. With U.S. cheese being as little as a third the price it is in Canada, drivers are making $1,000 to $2,000 a trip, according to numerous sources. 
 
 Canada Border Services Agency officials say anyone — officer or civilian — caught smuggling large shipments of cheese into Canada would be in violation of the Customs Act for failing to declare, and pay duties on, the controlled goods. 
 
 As well, CBSA says it would be a violation for failing to have proper permits and licences from both the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. 
 
 Those charged include: 
 
 Scott Heron, 39, a Niagara Region Police Service constable. He was suspended from duty on June 26. 
 
 Casey Langelaan, 48, a former member of the Niagara Regional Police Service. He was suspended from duty in June and is no longer employed by the force. 
 
 Bernie Pollino, 44. 
 
 All three of the charged men are residents of Fort Erie, Ont., police said. They all appeared in court on Thursday in St. Catharines, Ont., and were put over to Nov. 7. 
 
 Heron and Langelaan are charged with conspiracy to smuggle goods, breach of trust and four violations under the Customs Act. Pollino faces a charge of conspiracy to smuggle goods and four violations of the Customs Act. 
 
 CBC News was told earlier this month by two pizzeria owners in Niagara Region that Pollino — who is a U.S. citizen living in Fort Erie — had approached them offering to supply them with inexpensive U.S. cheese. 
 
 CBC approached Pollino at his Fort Erie home two weeks ago but he refused to discuss the alleged cheese smuggling ring or his friendships with Heron and Langelaan. 

 NIAGARA FALLS, ONT. - 
 
 A Niagara Regional Police officer, a former NRP officer and another man have been charged with what police call a “large-scale smuggling scheme” to bring cheese and other foods into Canada from the U.S. 
 
 Const. Scott Heron, 39, is charged with conspiracy to commit an indictable offence and breach of trust. Both allegations are Criminal Code offences. He is also charged with Customs Act violations, including making false or deceptive statements, acquiring illegally imported goods and smuggling. 
 
 Casey Langelaan, 48, who was also a Niagara Regional Police officer and was suspended under the Police Services Act on June 26, 2012, has now resigned from the service. 
 
 Langelaan and Bernie Pollino, 44, each face a conspiracy to smuggle charge, along with several Customs Act charges. 
 
 Niagara Regional Police announced the charges Thursday, four days after news reports surfaced that there was an internal investigation into allegations that police officers had been involved in smuggling cheese. 
 
 Police say the investigation began in January 2012 and involved Niagara police, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Canada Border Services Agency. 
 
 Police said their investigation revealed more than $200,000 worth of cheese — which is less expensive in the U.S. — had been purchased in the U.S. and distributed in Canada. It would have made the smugglers an estimated profit of more than $165,000, a police report says. 
 
 Police Chief Jeff McGuire said the alleged smuggling operation came to the force's attention because of another case. 
 
 Another Fort Erie, Ont., officer, Const. Geoff Purdie, is accused of smuggling steroids and other drugs into Canada. U.S. authorities charged him with conspiracy to export controlled substances with intent to distribute. His case is still before the courts, a Homeland Security spokesman said. 
 
 "As a result of the investigation into the Purdie incident, the other three people came to light, not necessarily being involved directly with Purdie, but it's information that came up and the investigators uncovered it," McGuire said. 
 
 Police say the smuggled cheese made its way to some businesses on this side of the border. No businesses have been charged.
– First the great maple syrup heist, now this: Police in Canada have sniffed out a large-scale cheese-smuggling ring involving a serving police officer, an officer who resigned this summer, and an American accomplice. Cheese is a lot cheaper in the US than it is in Canada, and officials believe the trio bought at least $200,000 worth of the American stuff and sold it to Canadian pizzerias and other restaurants for a profit of $165,000, the Toronto Sun reports. The men have been charged with conspiracy, smuggling, and other violations of customs law. Smugglers bringing cases of cheese across the border can make up to $2,000 a trip if they can find a buyer, reports the CBC. "We get all our stuff legit," says one pizzeria owner who was questioned by police. "We thought it was a joke at first. Who is going to go around trying to sell smuggled cheese?"