Taken From BBC Online:
Customs officers have seized 300,000 cigarettes from ten passengers at Leeds-Bradford International Airport.
They were stopped as they came through customs controls on a flight from Tenerife.
It is thought it was a co-ordinated attempt to smuggle cigarettes into the country.
Customs anti-smuggling manager George Simpson said: “The seized cigarettes had a retail value of over £70,000.
“In what appears a co-ordinated attempt to evade duty some of those involved had over 30,000 cigarettes each, stuffed into suitcases.”
He added “Part of our job is to protect the honest shopkeeper as they try to make a decent living.
“Organised gangs who smuggle in this way have a huge impact on these traders because they undercut prices by unfair competition.”
Customs officers are continuing their investigations into the incident.
When I was in the arrivals hall at LBA on Friday they were massive queues at customs and they were asking everyone if they from CFU ot TFS. I suppose they must be really cracking down. Anyone know whether it was the IWD Friday or BY Sunday flight?
By: SOFTLAD - 11th September 2003 at 00:23
LOL Just have fun with the wine then 😀
By: batbay - 11th September 2003 at 00:17
Depends how nicotine stained your fingers are:D
(don’t smoke myself – just bring back the wine:) )
By: SOFTLAD - 11th September 2003 at 00:11
batbay there are limits for personal use im afraid.In the EU you now can bring in 16 boxs of cigs for you own use but if customs stop you with these they can say that the average person would take up to 6 months to smoke that amount.If for arguments sake a month later they stopped you with the same amount then you would have to pay for that ?
By: Selsport69 - 10th September 2003 at 19:26
I know in Edinburgh they do target flights from Amsterdam. Wonder why?:confused:
By: batbay - 10th September 2003 at 13:59
Very topical for me, this Thread, as I took a re-stocking trip to France by car yesterday.
😀
The fact there there are “no limits” for personal use/consumption is being strongly publicised by the Ferry Companies to the extent that even the boarding sticker for the car referred to it.
(Applies only to EU of course)
By: Carl - 10th September 2003 at 13:37
There was a test case recently which deemed the reasonable personal use quantity for cigarettes to be around 3200. I doubt this would ever be openly publicised by HM Customs & Excise.
This applies for intra-EU travel only.
Journeys from outside the EU still have the traditional 200 cigarettes allowance per person.
I think smuggling is a bigger problem than is publicised. I have heard of people who have for example arranged an international flight with a BA domestic connection from MAN. This results in MAN T3 being the official entry point back in to Britain – being a predominantly domestic terminal there are a distinct lack of customs officers at T3.
By: Pembo330 - 10th September 2003 at 11:21
Its strange isn’t it Ren…
To be honest, on the vast majority of flights I have taken recently, I haven’t seen a customs officer. When we got back from CUN in the summer; there wasn’t one in sight. I think they target specific routes to be honest and vary it from time to time; thats the only rationale I can think of.
By: Ren Frew - 10th September 2003 at 11:01
Originally posted by Pembo330
Don’t forget restrictions do apply from the Canaries as technically they are outside the EU.
Which is why I was surprised to see the customs area deserted inbound.
By: Pembo330 - 10th September 2003 at 10:55
Don’t forget restrictions do apply from the Canaries as technically they are outside the EU.
By: Ren Frew - 10th September 2003 at 08:38
Same thing happened to me at MAN after a late night arrival from The Canaries. Not a soul to be seen.
By: steve rowell - 10th September 2003 at 06:05
Another case of stupidity
By: Bhoy - 10th September 2003 at 02:03
Originally posted by LGWboy
Is there still a limitation on how much alcohol, or how many cigs you can bring back home?
In theory, within the EU, you can import as much as is reasonable for personal consumption…
Selsport, it’s the same at GLA if you’re coming off a connecting domestic flight: There’s a seperate room with a luggage carousel for non EU-originating luggage with a phone on the wall at the back of the room with a sign saying please call HM Customs and Excise in the International Pier if you have anything to declare… :rolleyes:
nb I’m not condoning bringing back over your allowance, just questioning how many people can be bothered using the phone…
By: Selsport69 - 9th September 2003 at 21:26
Yes and the customs try to ram home that rule. I came home from New York with loads of electrical & clothing stuff earlier this year. Threw away most of the boxes and receipts before getting on the plane only to find no customs officers in Edinburgh:confused:
By: LGWboy - 9th September 2003 at 21:22
Is there still a limitation on how much alcohol, or how many cigs you can bring back home?
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September 9, 2003 at 3:58 pm