A car was crammed full of 130,000 cigarettes and ten kilos of tobacco by a woman trying to smuggle them in from her holiday.
Karolina Sobieraj had been visiting her homeland of Poland when someone suggested the scam to make a quick buck.
A court heard several nooks and crannies of her Skoda had been packed with tobacco which would have defrauded the country out of more than £41,000 in duty.
Now Sobieraj, 37, never in trouble before, has been given a suspended prison sentence for the "idiotic" decision.
Newcastle Crown Court heard it was on September 7 last year that she arrived at North Shields Ferry Terminal from Amsterdam.
When stopped by Border Force, she explained she lived in the UK and had been on holiday in Poland.
She admitted having around 1,000 cigarettes but a search of her car revealed many, many more.
They were under the front seats, behind panels, in the engine bay and under the bonnet and there were two holdalls containing the hand-rolling tobacco.
In total there were 130,200 cigarettes and 10 kilos of tobacco and the total potential duty evaded was £41,164.
Sobieraj pleaded guilty to fraudulently evading duty owed on the cigarettes and tobacco and was sentenced to six months imprisonment suspended for 12 months.
Judge Julie Clemitson told her: "You are of previous good character and you have genuine shame and regret for your actions and is described as being a one-off idiotic decision.
"I accept you, like many others, did not see the offence of smuggling cigarettes as particularly serious until you were caught.
"However, smuggling the cigarettes as you did should have alerted you to the fact you were committing a serious criminal offence."
Matthew Purves, mitigating, said Sobieraj, of Sanderson Way, Eyemouth, Berwickshire, was "relatively naive" and did not understand how seriously what she was doing was considered and reacted with "horror" when she realised.
He added: "The defendant has been in the UK for 12 years and had been living an entirely law-abiding life and working non-stop in the UK."
Mr Purves said she got talking to a cigarette salesman during a trip to Poland and decided to try to make some "quick money" but said she did not realise how many cigarettes her car would be packed with.
"It was somewhat of a surprise to her when she realised quite how many were within the car, something the man facilitated and packed for her. Nonetheless, she accepts everything is her responsibility.
"It is described as an impulsive idiotic decision she made on that occasion."
