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Haulier charged with smuggling
Page 10
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• Haulier John Heads of Elwick. Hartlepool, smuggled cigarettes into the UK on 14 occasions by hiding them in consignments of timber, Newcastle Crown Court was told last week.
Heads pleaded not guilty to 14 charges of being involved in the fraudulent evasion of excise duty between May and December 2000.
The prosecution claimed that Heads was involved In the illegal import of cigarettes destined for Teesside over an eight-month period. The cigarettes were said to be hidden in trucks that travelled via Italy or Germany.
The court heard that Heads' business interests include an international road haulage firm trading from Middlesbrough, a vehicle recovery service and a haulage company in Romania.
The prosecution said that Customs officers had intercepted two of the consignments: one in October 2000 and another two months later.
Prosecutor Andrew Lees claimed the loss of revenue to the government could be as high as £21m.
The trial continues.