More than 600m illicit cigarettes seized by HMRC in six months

Between April and September 2015, hundreds of millions of cigarettes and 137 tonnes of hand-rolling tobacco worth £232m in unpaid duty found. More than 600m illicit cigarettes and 137 tonnes of hand-rolling tobacco with a tax value of £232m were seized by the government in the space of six months in 2015.
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said the figures showed the department was reducing the illicit trade but that it remained a “significant problem”.
An HMRC spokesman said by working with other enforcement agencies it had halved the size of the illicit market in cigarettes and that of illicit hand-rolling tobacco by a third.
 

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/mar/05/600m-illicit-cigarettes-seized-hmrc-six-months-tobacco