St Leonard's lorry driver charged with smuggling 6m fake cigarettes (From The Argus)

St Leonard's lorry driver charged with smuggling 6m fake cigarettes

10:04am Friday 19th March 2010 in

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An East Sussex lorry driver has been charged with evading about £1.3 million in duty by smuggling more than six million counterfeit cigarettes into the country, customs officials said.

Benjamin James Spicer, 32, of Strood Road, St Leonards, was arrested after the haul was discovered in the trailer unit of a lorry at Newhaven Ferry Port on October 17 last year.

Following inquiries, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) criminal investigators charged him with being knowingly concerned in the fraudulent evasion, or attempted evasion, of duty payable on tobacco products.

Spicer, who is on bail, will appear at Lewes Magistrates' Court on March 24.

HMRC senior investigation officer Derek Brooks said: "Cigarette smuggling is theft from honest UK residents.

"If these cigarettes had been sold illegally on our streets they would have deprived the Government of over £1.3 million to spend on public services.

"Smugglers are motivated by profit and don't care about peddling fake goods and undercutting legitimate retailers.

"Anyone with information about smuggling should call the Customs' Hotline on 0800 59 5000."

The cigarettes were later burned at a power station to fuel the National Grid.