Manager imprisoned for smuggling
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A KENT-BASED freight distribution manager has been jailed for six-and-a-half years after attempting to smuggle nearly 15 million cigarettes into the country in refrigerated lorries.
Barry Wood, from Maidstone, was found guilty on two counts of evading excise duty, after HMRC investigators intercepted the 14.6 million cigarettes in separate loads being carried by reefers through Dover docks. He pleaded not guilty to the charges. Documents with the loads stated they were fruit and vegetables, but officers found the contraband in the freight.
One of the drivers, Romanian national Romulus Boca, was arrested and later charged with smuggling offences.
He absconded abroad while on bail but was tracked down and extradited. He pleaded guilty to duty evasion and received a threeyear jail term. A third man was found not guilty.
“These men used their positions in a transport company, and their knowledge of the freight industry, to set up this smuggling operation,” said Peter Hollier, HMRC assistant director of criminal investigation.
An HMRC spokeswoman told CM the unnamed haulage company that employed Wood was unaware of the crime.