Lorry driver charged with smuggling 6.3m cigarettes into Newhaven Port
A LORRY driver from Sussex was charged with trying to bring 6.3m counterfeit cigarettes into Newhaven Port.
Criminal investigators from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) charged him on March 17.
The cigarettes were discovered in a trailer unit of a lorry on October 17 last year.
The total duty avoided on the haul was 1.3m.
The cigarettes were burned at a power station to fuel the National Grid.
HMRC senior investigation officer Derek Brooks said: "Cigarette smuggling is theft from honest UK residents.
"If these cigarettes had been sold illegally on our streets they would have deprived the Government of over 1.3m to spend on public services.
"Smugglers are motivated by profit and don't care about peddling fake goods and undercutting legitimate retailers."
Anyone with information about smuggling should call the Customs' Hotline on 0800 59 5000.
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Thursday 09 February 2012
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