A Scot who tried to smuggle 22,000 cigarettes through airport security claimed he had a 100-a-day habit when he was caught.
Christopher Jardine insisted the massive haul was for his personal use when he was nabbed by customs officers.
Two kilograms of hand-rolling tobacco was also recovered when the 37-year-old from Glasgow was pulled over at Birmingham Airport.
Jardine was returning from Kuwait, via Qatar when he was stopped as he walked through the nothing to declare channel, Birmingham Live reports.
And when officers discovered his huge stash stuffed inside two suitcases, he said he'd brought it back to feed his nicotine addiction.
The haul represented almost £7,000-worth of evaded duty .
He claimed he had been staying with friends in Kuwait City when he was questioned at the airport in March last year.
But analysis of his mobile phone revealed documents for other trips and 30 Facebook messenger conversations where cigarettes and tobacco had been advertised.
Officers also found a WhatsApp conversation that took place after he was stopped.
The other person advised him to say the cigarettes were intended for personal use and to say he had no idea about UK allowances on tobacco.
Jardine was convicted of the fraudulent evasion of excise duty and handed a four-month suspended sentence at Birmingham Magistrates' Court today.
He was also ordered to pay £340 prosecution costs and an £85 victim surcharge.
An HMRC spokesperson said: “When people like Jardine try to smuggle goods to evade duty, they are taking money away from funding our vital public services.
"They also gain an unfair advantage over legitimate, law-abiding cigarette sellers who are paying the tax they owe.
“HMRC works with partners to prosecute criminals who think they can breach our borders and attack the tax system in this way.
"We ask anyone with information about suspected cigarette or tobacco fraud to report to us online or call our Fraud Hotline on 0800 788 887.”
