One million fake cigarettes seized at Felixstowe

BORDER officials have foiled an attempt to smuggle approximately one million counterfeit cigarettes into Felixstowe, it has been announced today.

BORDER officials have foiled an attempt to smuggle approximately one million counterfeit cigarettes into Felixstowe, it has been announced today.

The high quality fakes - branded Regal and Superking - arrived at Felixstowe concealed in a consignment of industrial electric fans and were seized by UK Border Agency officers on Sunday.

Mick Southgate, UK Border Agency senior officer at Felixstowe, said: “This was an elaborate attempt to evade detection. Smuggling cheats the British taxpayer and undermines honest traders.

“People who make the mistake of buying counterfeit cigarettes might think they are getting a bargain, but these goods are totally unregulated and have been known to contain all manner of unsavoury ingredients, from sawdust to rat droppings, and even toxic materials like cadmium and arsenic.”

The cigarettes had been shipped from China and were hidden inside a hollowed out section of the fans themselves.

They will be taken to an incinerator plant in Slough, Berkshire, where they will be burned - and the energy fed straight into London's electricity supply.

No arrests have been made and investigations are ongoing.

Anyone with information about activity they suspect may be linked to smuggling should call 0800 59 5000.