Man caught in Dumfries and Galloway with £95,000 worth of illicit cigarettes lands jail term

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A police search of a hire van stopped on the M74 near Wamphray led to the discovery of 324,000 illicit cigarettes worth £95,000 in lost duty and taxes.On Monday, a 12-month jail sentence for excise duty evasion was handed to 39-year-old construction worker from Kilmarnock, Thomas John Donnelly, at Dumfries Sheriff Court.He had pleaded guilty to Excise Duty fraud on November 23 in the same court.Officers, who found several boxes containing thousands of cigarettes on the morning of February 28, 2019, called in HM Revenue and Customs who seized the goods.During interviews Donnelly admitted travelling down to Manchester to buy the cigarettes.After the sentencing, Lynsey Thompson, operational lead for the HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service said: “The sale of illegal cigarettes will not be tolerated by us or our partner agencies.

This is theft from the taxpayer which undercuts local businesses and now Donnelly is paying the price.“Cheap cigarettes come at a cost as they often fund organised crime and other illegal activity.

If you know anyone smuggling, selling or storing illicit cigarettes, you can report it to HMRC online.”A Police Scotland spokesperson said officers had stopped the vehicle after receiving a report of a vehicle speeding on the motorway near Wamphray on the M74 in Annandale.They added: “During the stop and search, a sizeable amount of illegal cigarettes were discovered and the recovery shows the good work of officers in preventing these cigarettes from reaching our communities.“We will continue to work closely with our partners to disrupt, detect and deter such criminality and would encourage anyone with information or concerns about illegal or counterfeit cigarettes or tobacco within the local community to