Two years for fag smuggling
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• A Spanish truck driver has been jailed for two years after attempting to smuggle almost five million cigarettes into the UK.
The huge haul was discovered in April when Customs officers stopped Antonio Gomez driving a Spanish registered truck at Poole Ferryport.
It had arrived on a ferry from Cherbourg and the subsequent search revealed cartons of cigarettes on pallets hidden under boxes of frozen broccoli. The duty evaded would have amounted to well over £800,000.
Gomez, 31, pleaded guilty to attempting to smuggle the contraband when be appeared at Bournemouth Crown Court on 18 July. Judge Wiggs said it was being treated as a very serious matter due to the extent of the duly evaded.
A Customs spokesman says the sentence sends out the right message to smugglers. He adds: "Evading payment of duty is stealing money from all taxpayers, who end up footing the bill."
• More than 14,000 litres of whisky, thought to be tainted with methylated spirits, have been seized from a truck arriving in Poole.
Two Portuguese drivers were questioned by Customs officers but later released.