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Customs officers in running battle with cigarette smugglers

The true extent of smuggling has been revealed as customs officers say they are still being forced to play cat and mouse with cigarette smugglers on the Lincolnshire coast.

HM Revenue & Customs officers recently raided a shop, believed to be in the lower part of Lincoln High Street, and seized more than 14,000 cigarettes.

The modern twist to smuggling is that ships from the former Eastern Bloc countries laden with illicit cigarettes drop anchor in international waters 12 miles off the Lincolnshire coast, beyond the jurisdiction of sea patrols.

Smaller vessels meet the boats in the North Sea and return with their booty and it is these that officials raid, or lie in wait as the smuggling network is revealed.

Counterfeit cigarettes are landed in isolated locations along the Lincolnshire coast, the south bank of the River Humber and the Wash, or along inland rivers including the Trent and the Witham.

From there, they are loaded into vans and driven to depots before being sold on the black market.

Alternatively, smuggled goods arrive in port towns including Grimsby, Immingham and Boston, hidden in consignments of fruit and veg.

About £3bn in duty is evaded by tobacco smugglers in Britain each year.

"Smugglers weigh up the risks involved and smuggling cigarettes is less risky than smuggling drugs or people as the maximum prison sentence is seven years," said Customs & Revenue spokesman Maddy Ratnett.

"Nooks and crannies along the Lincolnshire coast or any river that has wharves are perfect landing places for smugglers.

"Even if we had unlimited numbers of officers I don't think we would ever stop smuggling completely but we remain vigilant and we are out and about in the area."

Source: thisislincolnshire, 17th July 2008
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