Port of Hull: Sniffer dog finds 'largest' illegal cigarette shipment

The 99 million illegal cigarettes were found inside eight containers supposed to contain birchwood logs

A sniffer dog at the Port of Hull has found 99 million illegal cigarettes in shipping containers, the biggest ever seizure of its kind at a UK port.

The cigarettes, in eight containers, were found in June and were said to have been shipped through the United Arab Emirates, import papers suggested.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) said the cigarettes were worth about £44m in unpaid taxes.

The import documents had described the containers as carrying birchwood logs.

A 57-year-old man from south Wales was arrested in July in connection with the seizure and was released on bail, HMRC said.

A Border Force tobacco detection dog found the illegal cigarettes on 1 June

Another man from the Birmingham area had been interviewed under caution, with investigations ongoing, it added.

Anthony Usher, deputy director of HMRC's fraud investigation service, said: "This is the single largest seizure of cigarettes ever made at a UK port.

"Our streets would have been flooded with them, had they not been discovered.

"Cheap cigarettes come at a cost as they often fund organised crime and other illegal activity that causes real harm to our communities, such as drugs, guns and human trafficking."