Lorry Driver Jailed For Tobacco Smuggling

A 55 year old man from Perth, Scotland was sentenced today to three and half years imprisonment for attempting to smuggle over 4 million cigarettes into the UK. Alexander Kindred was intercepted by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) officers at the Inward Freight controls at Dover Docks on the 26 April 2007. The revenue evaded on the tobacco was £580,000.

The trial began on Monday 20 October and the court heard that Kindred was driving a British registered vehicle and stated that the trailer had been loaded in Germany with boxes of biscuits which were to be delivered to the Ripley area.

HMRC officers examined the vehicle and its load. Hidden within the pallets of brown boxes containing the biscuits they found a number of white unmarked boxes containing 4,229,200 cigarettes.

Bob Gaiger HMRC spokesperson for HMRC said: "We will not hesitate to take action against those dealing in smuggled goods and evading duty. This sentence will serve as a deterrent to others. Selling smuggled tobacco products is not a harmless tax fiddle - it cheats the Government of Revenue, which can be used to fund vital public services, and jeopardises the trading of law-abiding tobacconists.

I would urge anyone with knowledge of others importing or dealing in smuggled cigarettes to contact the Customs Hotline on 0800 59 5000".