A Newcastle duo who tried smuggling over 63,000 illegal cigarettes from South Africa have been spared prison.
Gary Miller, 54, of Roundhill Avenue, and Christopher Jones, 47, of Clayton Street, were caught with cigarettes worth £25,467 in unpaid duty at Newcastle and Heathrow airport, an investigation by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) revealed.
The illegal goods were discovered when Border Force officers searched their bags on arrival from Johannesburg, on 15 March 2018.
Miller planned the smuggling plot and was stopped at Newcastle Airport and found carrying 33,300 Seville brand cigarettes.
Jones was stopped at Heathrow Airport and found carrying 30,400 Seville brand cigarettes.
The illegal goods were seized by Border Force and the case was passed to HMRC for investigation.
Mobile phone evidence showed Miller and Jones had also taken the same trip in December 2017 and smuggled 56,000 cigarettes, worth £15,689 in unpaid duty, into the UK.
Both Miller and Jones admitted excise fraud at Newcastle Crown Court on 3 April 2019.
At the same court on Thursday, Miller was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for a year.
Jones was handed a 12-month community order and a three-month curfew.
An HMRC spokesperson said: “This was a deliberate attempt to smuggle illegal tobacco goods into the country and deprive the UK of money which should be used to fund our public services.
“HMRC will continue to pursue tobacco smugglers like Miller and Jones who think excise fraud is acceptable.
"We encourage anyone with information about tax fraud to report it to us online or contact our Fraud Hotline on 0800 788 887.”
