The smuggling attempt was thwarted when two Polish
registered lorries from the same company were stopped at
around 7pm on Saturday (14 November) after arriving on a
ferry from Calais. Both vehicles were scanned and examined
further. One was carrying a legitimate load of four large
electronic circuit breaker machines but the other vehicle
was found to contain 3,240,000 cigarettes, stored in 18
large boxes.
, Minister
for Immigration Compliance and the Courts, said:
This detection is testament to the expertise of Border
Force officers, who work every day to stop black market
items like these entering the UK. Their actions have
starved those responsible of the proceeds of their
criminality.
The illegal market in cigarettes cheats honest traders
and is effectively stealing from the public purse. People
tempted by cheap cigarettes and tobacco should think
again.
Had the smuggling attempt not been detected, it would have
cost the Treasury £937,728 in unpaid duty and VAT. Two men
were arrested and the investigation referred to HM Revenue
and Customs (HMRC).
Last week, Border Force officers at Belfast Docks had
further success in combatting smuggling when they seized
2.4 tonnes of black market hand rolling tobacco worth
£700,000 in unpaid duty.
Border Force officers use hi-tech search equipment to
combat immigration crime and detect banned and restricted
goods that smugglers attempt to bring into the UK.
In 2019, Border Force protected the Treasury from losing
more than £210millon in unpaid duty from black market
cigarettes.
