An oil smuggler who supplied over 200 filling stations in Northern Ireland was jailed for two and a half years today.
John Hunter (55) from Brentwood Park, Richhill, Co Armagh used fraudulent invoices to avoid paying more than £6 million sterling in excise duty and tax, Belfast Crown Court heard.
Between July l997 and May l998 when he was arrested, it was claimed he sold millions of litres of cheap petrol and diesel smuggled from the Republic to hauliers and more than 200 stations on the northern side of the border.
At the time of his detention, customs officers searched a number of addresses in Co Armagh and the Republic.
Hunter pleaded guilty to 10 charges of fraudulent evasion and one of evading VAT.
After he was jailed, Customs staff said Hunter had been part of a major fuel smuggling fraud.
Staff tackling smuggling had risen from 25 to 160 since April 2000. Twice as much illicit fuel and three times as many vehicles have also been seized. Up to 17 laundering plants were broken up.
PA