Two million illicit cigarettes seized in Glasgow raid
- Published
Two men have been charged with excise duty fraud after HMRC officers seized about 2.2million of illicit cigarettes at a business unit in Glasgow.
The cigarettes were found stacked on pallets at a property on the south side of the city on Monday.
The men aged 57 and 53 were arrested and charged before being released pending further investigations.
The 57-year-old was also charged over a seizure of 1.1million cigarettes in Whitburn, West Lothian, in April.
The total loss of duty has been estimated at about £2m.
The cigarettes were stacked on pallets
Nearly two tonnes of of compressed raw tobacco leaf was recovered
A third raid netted 1.8 tonnes of compressed raw tobacco leaf, worth an estimated £782,000 in lost duty, at a haulage depot in Wishaw, North Lanarkshire, on Friday 24 June.
Joe Hendry, assistant director of the Fraud Investigation Service at HMRC, said: "The trade in illicit cigarettes and tobacco damages funding for essential public services and undermines legitimate traders including small, independent corner shops that serve local communities.
"HMRC continues to work closely with our partners in Scotland's Serious Organised Crime Taskforce to relentlessly pursue the determined minority who refuse to play by the rules.
"Anyone with information about the illegal sale of cigarettes and tobacco should report it to HMRC online at gov.uk."