Customs seize seven tonnes of tobacco at port of Purfleet

AN attempt to smuggle almost seven tonnes of hand-rolling tobacco into the UK through the Port of Purfleet has been prevented by Border Force officers. The 6.93 tonnes, one of the largest ever seizures made at the port, had been shipped to the UK from Belgium inside a trailer whose contents had been listed as simply “pallets”. Had the smuggling attempt proved successful it would have cost the Treasury approximately £1.77m in unpaid duty.