Yesterday (25 August) saw 28-year old Martin Patrick Fitzpatrick from Newry, Northern Ireland given a three year prison sentence for smuggling £1m worth of cigarettes into the UK.
Below is the lorry load of rotten cabbages in which UK Border Agency seized the following:
- 610,000 Mayfair cigarettes
- 960,000 Palace cigarettes
- 4,200,800 Respect cigarettes
- 638.4kgs of Domingo Azul hand rolling tobacco
Cigarettes were found hidden in a trailer load of rotten lettuces from Spain.
Martin Fitzpatrick pleaded guilty to smuggling.
Punishments of other drivers, including a 10-year sentence for Steven Grundy who attempted to bring £4m worth of Cannabis in through Portsmouth, are clearly not working as a deterrent for those HGV drivers willing to take a gamble.
Mike Burrell at HM Revenues & Customs (HMRC) says not only are smugglers risking their own necks, but there is also the risk that illegally imported cigarettes are counterfeit, meaning they could damage a purchaser's health more than normal cigarettes.
"Had they reached the open market, the proceeds would have been used to finance organised crime and serve to undermine the honest traders who sell duty paid cigarettes and tobacco," says Malcolm Bragg, assistant director at HMRC.