He was initially sentenced in April 2019 for offences under the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016, Trade Marks Act 1994 and Money Laundering under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, and given a suspended sentence of 18 months, 150 hours of unpaid work, ordered to pay costs of £5028.50 and a Confiscation Order of £58,923.09 was made.

However, as reported in Convenience Store, after asking for an extension to repay the money, he failed to attend an enforcement court hearing and a warrant for arrest was issued. An investigation found that since the original court case when the confiscation order was made, the defendant had acquired an expensive vehicle.

He was arrested and brought to Birmingham Magistrates on 17 June and ordered to serve a 181 day default sentence, while the confiscation order currently stands at almost £66,000.

Cigarette smuggling and illicit tobacco trading remains a scourge on the sector. The June issue of NR carries a special report in to the crime. According to Dudley Council alone, it has seized more than 20,000 fake cigarettes and 7.5 kilos of illegal tobacco in the last 12 months. It estimates that the value of the cigarettes and tobacco seized in the past year would be worth in excess of £45,000 if the products were genuine.

Border Force NI has recently made significant seziures in Northern Ireland, while revenue officers in Dublin Port recently seized a significant supply from Belgium.

The post It’s a Crime – Retailer jailed for selling illicit tobacco first appeared on Neighbourhood Retailer.

If the smuggling attempts had not been detected, it would have cost the Treasury approximately £7.24 million in unpaid duty and VAT.

Border Force

In the first operation Border Force officers detected 4.44 tonnes of tobacco that arrived into Northern Ireland from Germany. The container was shipped from Rotterdam to Belfast and was destined for an address in County Down.  Thirty six pallets within the load contained the tobacco which appeared to be Euro Bins Polyester. Markings on the pouches indicate the tobacco originated in Luxemburg.  The revenue and VAT evaded would have been approximately £1.44 million.

In the second operation, 15.12 million cigarettes were detected at Belfast Docks after two containers were examined after arriving from Vietnam via Rotterdam.  The containers appeared to be wooden furniture and were destined for an address in Belfast.  A couple of rows of cover load was used at the front, with the boxes of cigarettes behind. Each box contained 40,000 ‘Yett Virginia’ branded cigarettes. The revenue and VAT evaded would have been £5.8 million.

Seizures

Both seizures were referred to HMRC for further investigation.

Naomi Long said:“Revenue and VAT evasion are not victimless crimes: this is the money we use to pay for our health service, education and infrastructure being stolen to fund all manner of illegal activity. I strongly commend Border Force for their vigilance in seizing these goods. I also urge people not to purchase such goods and play a part in disrupting organised criminality by reporting any suspicious activity to the PSNI. We all need to work together to prevent criminals profiting from their illegal activities, and to bring to justice those who continue to wreak havoc across our communities. As Justice Minister, I will continue to do all I can to support the OCTF partners so that we can all live in a safer Northern Ireland where we respect the law and each other.”

Smuggling

John-Jo Oldham Assistant Director of Border Force NI said: “These seizures demonstrate our commitment in tackling cigarette and tobacco smuggling. Working with our Organised Crime Task Force partners we are determined to stop the illicit trade in tobacco products. This is not a victimless crime and is often linked with other criminality. Children and young people are key targets for those who peddle illegal tobacco and cigarettes, encouraging them to take up smoking and exposing them to crime.”

Neighbourhood Retailer

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The post Border Force vigilance thwarts cigarette and tobacco smuggling first appeared on Neighbourhood Retailer.