Three Men Jailed Over Massive £526k Illegal Cigarette Haul Hidden as Road Surfacing
Three men have been locked up after authorities found over 1.5 million illegal cigarettes disguised as road surfacing material in a South Shields warehouse. The haul, worth more than £526,000 in unpaid duty, was uncovered by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) officers during a raid.
Illegal Ciggies Hidden in Road Material Ruse
Officers swooped on a warehouse at Middlefields Industrial Estate in March 2018, stumbling on 24 pallets stacked with 1,508,300 smuggled cigarettes. The fags were cleverly concealed in wooden crates coated with bitumen — a sticky substance typically used for road surfaces — then wrapped up to avoid detection.
Three Men Caught Red-Handed Hiding in Warehouse
Yiannakis Theodorou, 48, from Attleborough, Norfolk, and two Romanian nationals, Danut Nastasescu, 48, and Stanel Oprisan, 26, were found hiding at the back of the unit. All three were arrested on the spot. HMRC’s Alison Chipperton slammed the brazen operation:
“This was a shocking attempt to line the streets with illicit cigarettes and con taxpayers out of money which should be used to fund our vital public services. The trio thought they could hide and wouldn’t get caught, but they were wrong. These men stole enough money to pay the salaries for 26 new police officers for a year.”
Harsh Sentences for Smuggling Gang
Investigations showed Theodorou masterminded the import and distribution. He was found hiding between lorries inside the unit. Nastasescu and Oprisan had flown in from Romania to help unload the illegal cargo.
All three pleaded guilty to excise fraud in Newcastle Crown Court on 20 August 2018. Theodorou was slammed with a three-year prison sentence. Nastasescu and Oprisan each received 15-month jail terms.
HMRC urges anyone with info on tax fraud to report it online or call the Fraud Hotline on 0800 788 887.
