From: Mirror
By Martin Bagot
Cops were looking for some action but all they found was cigarettes and alcohol
Border police seized and poured down the drain more than 16 million pints of beer last year.
Despite customs officers claiming the record haul from smugglers the Government estimates it is still being cheated out of £7million a day in duty for smuggled alcohol and tobacco.
Criminals were caught with 1.9billion cigarettes, 2.8million litres of wine, 624,000litres of spirits and 9.4million litres of beer.
The entire illegal booze haul is held in storage before being crushed and flushed down the drain as it is considered unsafe to allow on to the market.
Tobacco seized is mixed with other materials before being sent to waste-to-power stations where it is burnt to provide electricity.
Brigid Simmonds, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, said: “It is legitimate traders and not just the Treasury, that suffer as a result of this sort of fraud.
“We very much support HMRC who have put more resources into cracking down on smugglers.
“Tough enforcement is definitely the most cost-effective way of preventing this illicit trade.”
Every day officers seize around 45,000 pints of beers, 7,7100 bottles of wine and 250,000 packs of 20 cigarettes as smugglers attempt to avoid paying duty.
Much of the haul is confiscated from professional gangs, rather than the traditional ‘man with a van’.
