Tobacco smugglers given long jail terms

Five men who were involved in smuggling tobacco into the UK have been jailed for terms of between 18 months and four years and nine months, according to a story by Jane Hunt for the East Anglian Daily Times.

Martyn Levett, prosecuting, told the Ipswich Crown Court that the case concerned the smuggling of tobacco and cigarettes to sell on the black market.

The goods were hidden in cardboard packaging protecting household furniture and handicrafts imported from Indonesia and Thailand.

“Sometimes the contraband was concealed in packaging mocked up to give the appearance of a high-back chair or inside packages shaped as animals such as ducks,” he said.

“These examples show the sophisticated methods employed by the smuggling team.

“Over a two-year period between June 2007 and June 2009, seven of the consignments were intercepted by Customs and were found to contain a total of 3.6m cigarettes and 1.6 tonnes of hand-rolling tobacco.

“The duty evaded on the cigarettes was in excess of £500,000.”