Bid to smuggle 30,000 cigarettes through Leeds Bradford Airport foiled

Three men were nabbed by Border Force officers, who spotted two of them wearing the bulky, ill-fitting jackets when they arrived last night.

The cigarette smugglers had flown in from Vilnius, Lithuania shortly after 11pm and were searched by the eagle-eyed officers, who found 3,800 cigarettes concealed in adapted pouches on the front and back of the two waistcoats.

The trio, who were all Lithuanian, were also carrying 23,700 cigarettes in their hand luggage, making a total of 27,500.

Sam Bullimore, Assistant Director for Border Force North, said: “This was an unusual concealment, and on the face of it quite convincing, but our expert officers are trained to expect the unexpected.

“Criminal gangs often use the proceeds of tobacco smuggling to fund other forms of serious organised crime. By stopping these shipments we are starving them of the proceeds of their criminality.

“Tobacco smuggling also deprives the economy of significant revenue at a time when the country can least afford it.

“I would urge anyone tempted by cheap cigarettes and tobacco to think again. The black market cheats honest traders. It is totally unregulated so buyers have no way of knowing what they are actually getting and, worst of all, further up the supply chain serious criminals are reaping the rewards.”

Officials estimate that the haul would have cost the treasury around £7,223 in unpaid excise duty if it had not been intercepted. All the cigarettes were seized, and will now be destroyed.

Border Force officers use an array of search techniques including sniffer dogs, carbon dioxide detectors, heartbeat monitors and scanners to find well-hidden stowaways, illegal drugs, firearms and cigarettes.

Anyone with information about suspected smuggling should contact the hotline on 0800 59 5000.