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HMRC seizes illegal cigarette haul in tobacco smuggling hotspot
Page 9
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HM REVENUE & CUSTOMS (HMRC) officials have seized more than £1.5mworth of illegally imported cigarettes in a lorry load of fish in Rotherham just weeks after South Yorkshire was branded a hotspot for tobacco smuggling.
The six million cigarettes were discovered in an HGV believed to have come from Poland at an industrial es tate in Rotherham. it is estimated the load would be worth at least £.1.5m in excise duty and VAT The haul follows the discovery of 10 million cigarettes, including counterfeit versions, in locked container units in Sheffield on 28 April.
HMRC estimates the goods are worth more than £2.5m and were heading for the black market.
"We said South Yorkshire was fast becoming one of the worst areas in the UK for smuggled cigarettes and tobacco, and the fact we are intercepting such large, commercial quantities of illegal cigarettes in the area only serves to justify that claim," states Brian Matthews, HMRC head of special investigations for the region.