A woman caught smuggling more than 45,000 cigarettes through Glasgow Airport claimed they were a wedding gift. Oluwafemi Aina was stopped by Border Force officers after touching down on a flight from the Netherlands.
The 47-year-old, of Glasgow's Laurieston area, had flown from Nigeria to France, going through Paris, before travelling to the Dutch capital of Amsterdam.
Three suitcases were seized during the February 2019 operation and, following a HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) investigation, she was found to have evaded £16,000 of excise duty.
She was arrested at Glasgow Airport by Border Force officers and then transported to Aitkenhead Road Police Station in Glasgow for interview under caution with HMRC officers.
Whilst being interviewed in connection with the cigarette find, she claimed the 45,400 Benson and Hedges cigarettes were bought in Nigeria as a wedding present for a pal.
Aina was found guilty after trial and sentenced at Paisley Sheriff Court on October 19, 2023, to 300 hours of unpaid work to be completed over a year.
Lynsey Thompson, Operational Lead, Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC, said: "Cheap cigarettes often fund organised crime and other illegal activity that causes real harm to our communities.
"We are determined to stamp out tobacco fraud by working closely with our Serious Organised Crime Taskforce partners at the Scottish Crime Campus.
"We urge anyone with information about tax fraud to contact HMRC online. Search ‘Report Fraud HMRC’ on GOV.UK and complete our online form.”
In 2021, a skint student was ordered to do unpaid work after being caught smuggling more than 42,000 duty free Benson and Hedges ciggies through Glasgow Airport in three suitcases.
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The tobacco Londoner Moshood Kassim, 27, had was worth £8,000 in excise duty to HM Revenue and Customs. The dad-of-two had flown from Nigeria via Ethiopia to London Heathrow, before heading to Glasgow.
And in 2015 another woman was caught bringing thousands of cigarettes into the country. Iwona Monica Kowal was ordered to pay more than £9,000 in duties after smuggling 33,000 cigarettes into the country.
She was caught with smuggled cigarettes hidden in her luggage on three separate occasions. The then 44-year-old, of Dundee, was caught at Glasgow and Edinburgh airports in 2013 and was also ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work.
According to HMRC, illicit tobacco costs the exchequer more than £2 billion in lost revenue each year. Millions of cigarettes have been seized by the government body, alongside Trading Standards, as part of of Operation CeCe.
Penalties of up to £10k can be issued to any business or individual that is caught selling illicit tobacco as part of the UK-wide clamp down.
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