Huge cigarettes haul seized

Almost one million smuggled cigarettes have been seized from an industrial unit in Walsall in a joint raid by police and Customs officers.

They discovered a haul of 90,000 packets of Superkings when they raided the unit on the town's Premier Business Park early yesterday morning.

The cigarettes found at the unit in Pleck Road, had a street value of £100,000.

John Theobald, senior investigation officer for HM Revenue and Customs, said: "This latest seizure of nearly one million cigarettes shows we have active and robust teams operating in the West Midlands and will not hesitate to take action against those dealing in smuggled cigarettes and evading duty.

"The proceeds from cigarette smuggling are often used to fund serious and organised crime such as drug smuggling.

"The illicit cigarette trade breeds contempt for the law by encouraging otherwise honest people to trade with criminals and undermines genuine retailers."

No arrests have currently been made and Investigations are ongoing.

The cigarettes will be incinerated to make power for the national grid.

More than five million cigarettes smuggled from Holland were seized during a raid in Wednesbury last month.

Customs officers found the illicit stash of Raquel cigarettes in a 40 ft lorry, following a joint operation with West Midlands and South Yorkshire Police.

A gang had hijacked the lorry – tracked from Yorkshire – and fled the scene with only a small amount of the illicit goods.

It is believed the cigarettes, seized on January 31, were destined for sale on the black market in the West Midlands.

More than 42,000 fake Chinese cigarettes were found during a raid on a house in Pendeford in July last year.

Customs officers and West Midlands Police swooped on the house in Emsworth Crescent and found the cigarettes and around 180 cannabis plants.