Birmingham quintet arrested in £11m tobacco duty fraud
NINE people – including five from Birmingham – have been arrested in a swoop by customs officers and police on an illegal tobacco operation.
The action, which led to the uncovering of two illegal tobacco processing plants, followed an investigation into suspected tobacco duty evasion of £11m and associated money laundering offences.
During coordinated raids, 80 HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) criminal investigators searched premises in Dorset, the West Midlands, London, Cambridgeshire, Leicestershire and Northamptonshire, in relation to the suspected supply of over 60 tonnes of tobacco.
HMRC officers, assisted by West Midlands Police, uncovered tobacco processing and packaging factories at two residential properties in Handsworth. Four women and a man were arrested by HMRC at the scene. The five were also arrested by West Midlands Police on suspicion of drug offences.
In Dorset, HMRC investigators arrested a man at a residential address in Poole. Private addresses in Bournemouth and Christchurch, and business premises in Verwood and Bournemouth, were also searched.
Two men were arrested in London; one at a residential address in Tower Hamlets and the other in Southwark – where around £50,000 in cash was also seized. A fifth man was arrested at a residential property in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire.
John Cooper, Assistant Director, Criminal Investigation, HMRC said: “HMRC investigators, assisted by police officers, have uncovered illegal tobacco factories in the West Midlands and arrested nine people across England.
“Tobacco crime undermines legitimate producers and retailers, costing the UK around £2bn a year in lost revenue.”
Business premises in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, a residential address in Corby, Northamptonshire, and five vehicles were also searched during the operation and a quantity of tobacco was seized.
The five people arrested in Birmingham were one male, aged 28 and four women, aged 48, 35, 27 and 23. All have been bailed until December. They have also been arrested by West Midlands Police on suspicion of drug offences. They have been bailed for this until July 16.
HMRC said investigations into the operation were continuing but no further details could be released at this stage.
