Another big cigarette seizure
28.12.07
Customs officers have stopped a gang of smugglers attempting to bring 73,000 cigarettes in the UK through East Midlands Airport. The smuggling attempt comes less than 2 weeks after officers also seized more than 121,000 cigarettes from a gang of 13 people at the airport.
In the second smuggling operation the Palace branded cigarettes, which were heading for the black market, were seized from four men returning to the country on a flight from Tenerife, in the Canary Islands on Wednesday night. If undiscovered, they would have cost the Government £14,000 on lost tax earnings if they had been sold on the black market.
John MacMillan, detection manager for HM Revenue and Customs, said: 'We hope this second seizure in such a short period of time sends a clear and powerful message to would-be criminals that we have successful and effective teams of Customs Officers working at regional airports.'
No arrests have been made over this latest seizure, with customs officers' investigations ongoing. Two of the four men questioned were from the Newark area, one was from Market Drayton and one was from Lincoln. The haul will now be incinerated and will generate power for the National Grid.
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