More than 800,000 illicit cigarettes seized from Dundee

More than 800,000 suspected illicit cigarettes were seized by customs officials in Dundee on Thursday (12).

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said discovery was made inside a container at an industrial park in the city during which more than where 824,620 cigarettes and 31kg of hand-rolled tobacco were seized.

HMRC believe the contents of the container were worth an estimated £378,000 in lost duty and taxes, BBC reported.

A man in his 40s from Dundee was arrested at the scene and charged with excise duty fraud. He was released pending further inquiries.

Joe Hendry, from HMRC’s fraud investigation service, said, “Cheap cigarettes come at a cost, as they often fund organised crime and other illegal activity that causes real harm to our communities.

“HMRC continues to relentlessly pursue the determined minority who refuse to play by the rules.”

The seizure happened a month after customs officers seized more than one million suspected illicit cigarettes and more than two dozen pallets of alcohol in a raid at an industrial park in Whitburn, West Lothian.