Stay-at-home smugglers scam busted
30.07.06
A new cigarette smuggling scam, where smugglers never leave the airport, has 'gone up in smoke', after Customs officers caught on to the trick, according to a report in the Newcastle Evening Chronicle.
Smugglers have been buying cheap one-way flights from Newcastle Airport, checking in and then stocking up on their full allowance of duty free cigarettes. But instead of boarding their flight, they were mixing in with passengers from arriving flights before walking out of the airport. They then sold the cigarettes for thousands on the black market in pubs and clubs on Tyneside.
But customs say they are wise to the scam and have beefed up security checks to thwart the smugglers. They have also secured what is thought to be the first prosecution against someone using the scam in the UK.
Jaswant Bassi, 31, Scott Johnstone, 23, and Stephen Porter, 25, were each caught with 6000 cigarettes after failing to board a flight to London. They sneaked out of the airport and were seen handing over bags full of the cut-price cigarettes to an accomplice in the airport car park.
A Customs spokesman told the newspaper: 'They can be in and out of the airport within an hour and each time they do it, they can make more than £1,000. If they plan to do this a few times a week, they could make a fortune.'
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