TOBACCO SMUGGLERS JAILED FOR MULTI-MILLION POUND OPERATION

6 Dec 2002 06:45 PM

Following a lengthy investigation by Customs officers based in Glasgow, two men were convicted and jailed today for helping to smuggle up to 75 million cigarettes.

James Nisbet (53) of Valley View, Horsley Brae, Overton, Wishaw, Lanarkshire - the mastermind at the UK end of the smuggling organisation - was sentenced to 4-1/2 years. Nashtar Singh (35) of 31 The Wynd, Wynyard Park, Billingham, Teeside, who stored and distributed the cigarettes once they had been imported, was sentenced to 4 years.

The two men were convicted at Manchester Crown Court for the evasion of duty and VAT payable on at least 10 separate importations of cigarettes. A third man Michael Walls (37) of Wigan who had previously pled guilty will be sentenced later. A confiscation hearing has been set for 28 April.

Customs' Head of Investigation Scotland Pete McGee said:

"This investigation has identified and dismantled a professional criminal organisation responsible for importing literally millions of smuggled cigarettes into the UK.

"Their activities, had they been allowed to continue, would have caused irreparable damage to the legitimate UK retailers and a massive loss of funding for public services."

Case details

During the 7 week trial, the jury were told they formed the UK end of a highly sophisticated worldwide criminal organisation that systematically smuggled large consignments of cigarettes into the UK. They were supplied by a Greek based organisation and routed through Singapore and Greece. The accompanying paperwork declared that the containers were full of wooden furniture, glassware and electrical items in order to avoid detection. The organisation utilised the names and addresses of several innocent importers in Merseyside and Durham to avoid raising any suspicions.

Following protracted surveillance and foreign enquiries, the organisation was finally dismantled in December 1999 when Customs officers swooped on a container as it was being unloaded into an industrial unit in Durham. That container, shipped from Greece, was declared as containing glass and plastic ware, but was found to contain 5.7 million cigarettes. The potential duty loss on that seizure alone was almost £3/4 million. It is believed that in excess of 75 million cigarettes were smuggled in this manner with a resultant loss to the Exchequer of in excess of £7 million.

ENDS

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Issued by HM Customs and Excise Communications Division