Smugglers discovered hiding in a South Shields warehouse with 1.5 MILLION illegal cigarettes
A trio of smugglers discovered hiding in a warehouse have been jailed after being found with 1.5 MILLION illegal cigarettes.
The tobacco-smuggling men disguised their stash as road-surfacing material and brought the contraband into the UK from Romania, evading more than half-a-million pounds of taxes.
Detectives from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) found the illegal tabs in wooden containers coated in bitumen and then wrapped in packaging when they raided a unit on the Middlefields Industrial Estate in South Shields.
Fraud investigators say the three men – Yiannakis Theodorou, Danut Nastasescu and Stanel Oprisan – were attempting to “flood the streets with illicit cigarettes”.
And when they searched the Throckley Way warehouse in March, investigators discovered 24 pallets loaded with packages 1,508,300 cigarettes worth £526,397 in unpaid duty.
Related Posts
Customs seize alcohol, cigarettes worth RM885,000
KUALA LUMPUR: The Royal Malaysian Customs Department has managed to foil...
Gang selling fake Amul butter, ghee busted in Noida
According to police, the accused used to allegedly package the butter and ghee in...
Large Seizure of Fine Cut Tobacco
CORNWALL, ON, Nov. 5, 2014 /CNW/ - On October 5, 2014 members of the Cornwall...
Foreign currency hidden in mixer-grinder found in train, 2 Bangladeshis arrested
The Border Security Force (BSF) seized foreign currency valued at over Rs 81...