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765,000 cigarette haul on QE2 loaded in Gibraltar
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A spectacular haul of 765,000 cigarettes have been found hidden onboard the QE2 luxury liner on return to Britain from a Mediterranean cruise. A crew member has been arrested.
HM Customs told PANORAMA that the cigarettes had been loaded in Gibraltar and duty had been evaded.
Customs officers working in Southampton Cruise Terminal seized the 765,000 cigarettes that were not properly declared to them on the QE2 after the liner arrived from a Mediterranean cruise on Friday. "The officers discovered that the cigarettes had been loaded in Gibraltar and had not been placed in the ship?s bonded stores but had been hidden in a locked loading bay," PANORAMA was told.
As a result of the discovery, Customs Officers questioned a 41 year-old crew member ?and established that the cigarettes had not been ordered and paid for by the ship but had been paid for in cash at a cost of over ?31,000.?
A spokesperson added that the revenue evaded on the cigarettes was approximately ?150,000.
The crew member has now been released on bail and Customs investigators are continuing their enquiries.
Bob Gaiger, HM Revenue & Customs spokesman in the South of England said: ?Customs are well aware of the risk of smuggling by crew members on board cruise liners and carry out regular checks on arriving vessels. It is clear that there were a number of serious irregularities in the way this large quantity of cigarettes were ordered, paid for and stored on the ship and we will continue with our enquiries. Cigarette smuggling is not a harmless tax fiddle. It costs ?2.2 billion per year in lost revenue ? money that would otherwise be funding schools, hospitals and other important public services.?
Meanwhile, Cunard Line told PANORAMA that it can confirm that a crew member from QE2 was questioned by Customs Officers and Southampton Police after the ship's arrival in Southampton on 13th October. The crew member has since been released on bail. "We cannot comment any further on this matter until our own internal investigations and those of HM Revenue & Customs have been completed," said a spokesperson.
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