25 July 2004 Smokes Lifted from CP Train Brandon - Police say arrests could be imminent in a heist where thieves stole nearly $100,000 worth of cigarettes from a Canadian Pacific train in Manitoba. Only a few cartons of the stolen cigarettes have been recovered since they were taken from a container on the parked train between 11 Jul 2004 and 12 Jul 2004, in what may have resembled a mass looting.   The cigarettes were apparently parked overnight in Brandon on their way to British Columbia by rail.   CP Rail officials were tight-lipped about how the cigarettes were being stored that night and how the thieves may have broken in.   "I can assure you that we take extensive security measures to protect the integrity of our customer shipments," said CP Rail spokesman Ed Greenberg. "In this case, someone took extraordinary measures to break into one of our cars."   Police said their investigation has found that between 10 p.m. on 11 Jul 2004 and 3:30 a.m. on 12 Jul 2004, at least 13 containers on the CP Rail train were broken into.   Seven boxes of Du Maurier cigarettes and 21 boxes of Players Silver cigarettes were stolen from one of the containers. Each box contained 50 cartons of cigarettes at eight packs a carton.   CP Rail assessed the value of the theft at just under $9 a pack before taxes, totalling about $98,000 in losses.   Sgt. Rick Selmer of the Brandon Police said organized crime doesn't appear to be behind the thefts. Rather, Selmer said it appears that word of the valuable find quickly spread through the grapevine after someone initially broke into the train.   "It looks like there were several individuals who observed the containers open and stole the cartons," Selmer said.   "A few packs have been located (identified by stamps on the packaging), but nothing compared to what was taken," he said.   No one had been arrested in the case by Saturday.