WARSAW: Gangsters who smuggled more than a million illegal cigarettes into the UK hidden in frozen chickens have been jailed.
The ‘fowl’ plot was discovered when officers from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) stopped a refrigerated lorry in Mitcham Road, Croydon, in May 2013.
Customs officials found more than 1.2 million cigarettes stuffed inside the frozen carcasses of chickens, worth an estimated £288,240 in lost revenue to the taxman.
Last Thursday four members of the west London-based gang were convicted at the Old Bailey for their involvement in the plot, with two facing jail time.
Miroslaw Rogalksi, 53, a Polish national of Popes Lane W5, was found guilty and sentenced to four years and nine months in prison.
Mariusz Dudek, 32, a Polish national of Castle Road, Northolt, Middlesex, was sentenced to three years and six months in prison.
Amjad Jassim, 44, of Hillcrest Road W5, was found guilty and was given a suspended sentence of two years in prison and ordered to carry out 100 hours unpaid work.
Alban Beqiri, 40, an Albanian of The Curve, Shepherds Bush, pleaded guilty and was fined £150.
David Margree, assistant director, Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC, said: “This was a highly organised and professional tobacco smuggling plot designed to steal money from the public and undermine honest shopkeepers, with a sole purpose of lining their own pockets.”
After smoking out the van, customs officials raided Jassim’s house and found 315,950 cigarettes, 409kg of shisha tobacco and 365kg of hand rolling tobacco, as well as more than £92,550 in cash hidden throughout the house.
Another 2,460 non-UK duty paid cigarettes were seized from Dudek’s home.
