A SMUGGLER who tried to bring nearly 6,300 untaxed cigarettes from the continent has been told by a tax judge that an order to forfeit his truck must stand.

Marcin Solowiej was detained at the Eastern Docks in Dover in May 2013, while delivering cargo from Germany to East Lancashire, when nine cartons of cigarettes were found in his cab – even though he insisted he was neither a smoker nor a smuggler.

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Customs officers, representing the Border Force, then discovered 23 more cartons, deposited around the heavy goods vehicle, which lead to the cab and trailer being impounded on the basis the cigarettes were for resale, a first-tier tax chamber tribunal was told.

Solowiej had previously been charged with a similar offence in March of the same year, when he was caught with another 20 cartons of cigarettes in the same vehicle.

But he had been let off in March, as it was his first offence, and allowed to reclaim the truck after paying a recovery fee.

After the second seizure, Solowiej wrote to the Border Force, asking for the truck to be restored to him as he was facing exceptional hardships, with the vehicle representing his only source of income to support his family.

Representatives from the Border Force refused his request, as it was a second offence and officials did not feel the hardship case had been made out. This decision was confirmed after a review.

Dismissing the Blackburn man’s appeal, tribunal judge Rachel Short said: “It is hard to conclude that the Border Force’s decision went beyond what was necessary to comply with the purpose of the legislation, which was to discourage smuggling.”