Bacup man 'helped smuggle 4 million cigarettes from China' (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Bacup man 'helped smuggle 4 million cigarettes from China'

9:00am Wednesday 28th January 2009 in Bacup By Chris Hopper, Reporter

A MAN helped smuggle millions of cigarettes into East Lancashire from China, a court was told.

Craig Waterhouse, 45, was involved in an operation which saw as many as four million cigarettes shipped into Britain, Burnley Crown Court heard.

The cigarettes, one of the largest hauls recorded in the the county, were eventually delivered to an address in Bacup where Waterhouse was arrested by HM Revenue and Customs officers, who had been watching the delivery.

Waterhouse, of Hammond Avenue, Stacksteads, pleaded guilty to evading duty.

However, he has only admitted smuggling 1.7million cigarettes, despite prosecutors claiming he evaded duty worth almost £700,000 on four million Lambert and Butler cigarettes.

A further hearing will now take place for a judge to decide on the exact number he was responsible for and for him to be sentenced.

The case against Waterhouse was the result of a joint investigation by Revenue and Customs and the UK Border Agency.

Border Agency officers had discovered the smuggled cigarettes after searching freight at Felixstowe port, in Suffolk, which had come in from China last October. (2008) The cigarettes were hidden behind boxes of flip-flops in a container full of shoes, investigators said.

Revenue and Customs officers then allowed a “controlled delivery” of the consignment to Bacup, where Waterhouse, along with two other men, were arrested.

The three were quizzed at Burnley police station and Waterhouse was charged over the smuggling. One of the other men was released without charge and the third was bailed until March.

HMRC criminal investigations Peter Hollier said the prosecution gave out a strong mesage to anyone thinking of trying to smuggle cigarettes.

He said: “We will not hesitate to take action against those dealing in smuggled goods and evading duty.

“Selling smuggled tobacco products is not a harmless tax fiddle - it cheats the Government of revenue, which could be used to fund vital public services and jeopardises the trading of law-abiding tobacconists.”

Lancashire Trading Standards revealed last year that East Lancashire was a hotbed for smuggled and counterfeit cigarettes.

It followed the interception last August of nine million Benson and Hedges Gold cigarettes, potentially worth £2.7million, in Burnley.

Waterhouse was bailed until March on condition he lives at his home address and does not travel abroad.