HM Revenue & Customs (London): Cigarette smuggling ringleader jailed for seven years

The ringleader of a criminal gang that smuggled over 64 million fake cigarettes into the UK, evading £10m in duty, was jailed for seven years at Southwark Crown Court yesterday. Peter Vyse, a market trader from Waltham Cross in Hertfordshire, was jailed along with nine other gang members for a total of over 30 years.

As the main organiser for the gang Vyse travelled extensively to Greece and Romania, organising shipments of counterfeit cigarettes, many of them made in Moldova and Ukraine. Vyse met with fake cigarette manufacturers and suppliers including the Italian Mafia, who supplied many of the cigarettes the gang smuggled into the UK.

Between November 2007 and June 2008 HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) seized five shipments containing over nine million smuggled cigarettes. Further investigations identified 25 shipments, containing over 64 million cigarettes, hidden in consignments of glass, fruit juice, pickled vegetables and dog food.

John Cooper, Assistant Director Criminal Investigation for HMRC said:

“This was a daring attempt to rip-off smokers and taxpayers by flooding the UK with millions of counterfeit cigarettes. With expertly crafted packaging it can be difficult to spot fake cigarettes, but like any other counterfeit product; you have no idea exactly what you’re buying. Tobacco smuggling is organised crime on a global scale with huge profits ploughed straight back into the criminal underworld.

“This has been a complex investigation, which has put a stop to the activities of this gang and resulted in significant jail sentences. Our next step will be to recover the profits from their illegal activities. Anyone with information about this type of criminal activity is urged to contact Customs Hotline 0800 59 5000 or email customs.hotline@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk.”

Following an investigation by HMRC, Peter Vyse, 55, and Dennis Lynch, 44, from Hertfordshire, Paul Tucker, 50, Dean Grainger, 32, Sean Pickering 40, Michael Sharpe, 49, and David Colakovic, 29, from South Yorkshire, Terence Boreham, 49, from Middlesex, Stephen Eley, 48, from Essex, and Louise Thurston, 37, of no fixed abode were charged with the fraudulent evasion of excise duty.

Ian Lumsden, 33, from Tyne and Wear was sentenced on 5 February 2010, and Paul Lynch, 46, from Hertfordshire will be sentenced at a later date.

LON 03/11

Issued by HM Revenue & Customs Press Office

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