AN attempt to smuggle more than four million cigarettes into the UK has been prevented by Border Force officers at the Port of Purfleet.
The 4.3m cigarettes had been shipped to the UK from Rotterdam inside a trailer whose contents had been listed as plastic flower pots. The seizure was made with the assistance of one of Border Force’s detector dogs.
Had the smuggling attempt proved successful it could have cost the Treasury approximately £1.3m in unpaid duty.
Mark Kennedy, Border Force Assistant Director at Purfleet, said:
“The criminals responsible had attempted to conceal the cigarettes behind two pallets of terracotta-style flower pots, but it took Lola, the detector dog, a matter of moments to identify that the contents of the trailer was suspicious.
“Once the two pallets had been removed we found several pallets stacked with Winston Blue cigarettes wrapped in plastic sheeting. Each pallet had a top layer of small flower pots.
“This was a sophisticated smuggling attempt and by stopping the shipment we have starved those responsible of the proceeds of their criminality.
“I would urge anyone tempted by cheap cigarettes and tobacco to think again. The black market cheats honest traders and it is effectively stealing from the public purse.”
The seizure was made on 3 September.
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 country.
They use an array of search techniques, which in addition to sniffer dogs includes carbon dioxide detectors, heartbeat monitors and scanners – as well as visual searches – to find well-hidden stowaways, illegal drugs, firearms and tobacco which would otherwise end up causing harm to local people, businesses and communities.
Anyone with information about activity they suspect may be linked to smuggling can call our hotline on 0800 59 5000.
