More Than Four Million Cigarettes Seized

3 November 2010, 13:50 | Updated: 3 November 2010, 14:37

An attempt to smuggle more than four million cigarettes through Felixstowe Port has been stopped by the UK Border Agency.

The cigarettes arrived in a single container from China, hidden in crockery. 

Attention was first brought to the container because of issues with paperwork. When officers opened the doors to the shipment they found a single row of plates, bowls and spoons hiding the cigarettes - which, if the smugglers succeeded, would have cost the UK about £1million in unpaid VAT and excise duty. 

Brian Hill, the UK Border Agency's Assistant Director at Felixstowe, said: 'Cigarette smuggling is not victimless, it is a serious organised crime and we are determined to stop it.'

Anyone with information about suspected smuggling activity should call the UK Border Agency on 0800 595 000