Illicit tobacco factory raided in UK

An illicit tobacco factory capable of producing 35 million cigarettes a month has been uncovered in Birmingham, the UK, according to a story by Jasbir Authi for the Birmingham Mail.

It wasn’t clear from the story when the factory was discovered, but presumably it was some time ago since those arrested in the raid, 10 men, all from Brazil and Paraguay, were said to be ‘set to be deported’.

And there was no indication of how long the factory had been in operation, though it was estimated that 35 million cigarettes a month would have represented a government duty loss of £138 million a year.

Investigators were said to have found a ‘huge’ stash of unmanufactured and processed tobacco, cigarettes, packaging and paperwork.

It was said to have taken three days to remove the machinery and four lorry-loads to remove the tobacco.

“Tobacco fraud costs the UK £2.4 billion a year in lost tax, money that should be funding vital public services in the UK,” said Stuart Taylor, assistant director, Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC.

Meanwhile, Sajeela Naseer, head of trading standards at Birmingham City Council, said Birmingham Trading Standards would continue its investigation in relation to the suspected counterfeit cigarettes found during the operation.