A lot more than 12 million counterfeit cigarettes had been seized as Customs officers smashed a £3 million smuggling operation.



The big haul, thought to have been imported from China, was destined for the black sector.



A professional taskforce found the counterfeit Regal and Superkings cigarettes in a warehouse on the banking companies of the River Tyne in Gateshead.



Contraband: The bogus cigarettes could stop up getting bought in displays like this (file picture)


Customs explained the excellent of the cigarettes was ‘extremely poor’ and they were being most likely to pose a wellbeing risk.



The swoop was part of a series of raids across Tyneside. Officers to start with found 3 million cigarettes in a space in the corner of the warehouse. Extra...


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The staff thought that was the entire haul until finally one officer spotted a pile of unmarked packing containers in a different component of the warehouse. It contained a further more 8.five million cigarettes in countless numbers of boxes all with the similar serial variety.



Haul: The stash of cigarettes was getting stored in the corner of a warehouse, like this shipment seized in 2008


The haul was the most significant cargo of illegal cigarettes which the HMRC group had at any time appear across. The proprietor of the warehouse was evidently compensated funds in hand to retail store the stash.



Had the cigarettes been bought, taxpayers would have missing out on £2.three million of excise profits.



On the black marketplace, the counterfeit cigarettes would have experienced a road benefit of all around £3 million.



Michael Connolly, head of detection for HM Earnings & Customs in the North East, explained: ‘Cigarette smuggling is not just people bringing dwelling an additional number of cartons from their holiday seasons and marketing them in the pub.



'This is organised criminal offense on a world-wide scale, with massive profits ploughed straight back into funding other felony activity in our neighbourhoods. Twelve million cigarettes is a staggering total.'



A spokesman for the nearby council extra: 'What people do not realise is that by obtaining a pack of unlawful cigarettes, they are supporting major organised criminal offense gangs.'



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