From: Manchester Eevening News
By Wayne Ankers
Customs officers raided an industrial unit in Castleton, Rochdale, and found the consignment, which is one of Britain’s biggest, containing 16.5m cigarettes
The seizure of cigarettes worth £3.8m smuggled into the country in crates of fruit has led to two Rochdale men being jailed.
Customs officers raided an industrial unit in Castleton, Rochdale, and found the consignment, which is one of Britain’s biggest, containing 16.5m cigarettes.
The haul, understood to have come from Vietnam, were imported as ‘fruit’ with oranges and kiwi fruits used as a ‘cover load’.
Neil Pickering, 37, and Anthony Bower, 51, were ‘trusted employees’ of the kingpin behind the ‘relatively sophisticated’ operation, who is yet to have been brought to justice, Manchester Crown Court heard.
