Three arrested over tobacco raids

THREE MEN were arrested in Northern Ireland and England yesterday following investigations into what is believed to be one of the largest ever international tobacco smuggling operations, according to British Revenue and Customs.

Two of the men arrested in Derry were released on bail yesterday evening while a third man arrested in Cambridgeshire remained in custody last night.

The men were arrested in early morning raids by British revenue and customs officers investigating the smuggling of hundreds of millions of cigarettes into Britain and Ireland.

British customs said that the raids were part of an international investigation into suspected excise evasion and laundering of proceeds of crime, believed to involve the manufacture and smuggling of cigarettes from the Far East into Britain and Ireland.

The Criminal Assets Bureau was also involved, carrying out raids in Cork, Meath and Louth. Computers, mobile phones and documents were seized in the raids in the three jurisdictions.

John Whiting, the assistant director of the British Revenue and Customs criminal investigation department said the investigation “into this gang has been ongoing for eighteen months”.

“With an estimated £3 billion of UK taxpayers’ money being diverted from public services into the pocket of tobacco fraudsters each and every year, the problem of excise fraud is considerable.”