63,016 individual seizures at UK Airports re cigarettes per year ... the hidden figures by HMRC/UKBA

HMRC/UKBA have never released the full extent of their endless onslaught on legitimate Cross-Border Shoppers. ln their official yearly progress reports they try to cover it up by supposedly giving these figures but actually they don't.

Take the figures from the 2009 report (P.41 Table 5. Excise Fraud)  for the number of cigarettes seized in 2008/9 :-


Overseas seizures                            855m
Air seizures                                     244m
Inland seizures                                180m
Maritime seizures                            557m

Cross channel passenger seizures      11m
Number (how many people) of cross channel seizures    2,836 (average 3878 cigarettes per seizure) Remember what UKBA guidelines say for Croos Border Shopping? ... 3200!

So you are lead to believe that only 2836 cross-channel seizures happened in 2008/9 ... but in the same report they say 5618 vehicles were seized!!!   Mmmm ... so every seizure they seized 2 vehicles???? No foot passengers? Can't be right can it?

lt says Cross-Channel Seizures .... NOT CROSS-BORDER SEIZURES...  so does that actually mean those that actually crossed the Channel and arrived in Dover and other UK ports? Those that didn't are NOT shown then .... so where are they? Ahhh they have a figure for cigarettes seized re Overseas Seizures and it shows they seized 855m cigarettes whereas Cross-Channel Seizures only amount to 11m. cigarettes. We only have border control juxtaposed in Calais, Dunkirk, Coquelles and Boulogne and in Belgium Zeebrugge (here checking lorries and freight). This is what is classed as Overseas Seizures and accounted for 855m in seizures but no actual seizure numbers (people)??? They are obviously frightened to death of releasing the actual numbers. No wonder when they attribute 2836 Cross-Channel Seizures to only 11m cigarettes <<< so they are getting only 1.3% in Cross-Channel Seizures compared with Overseas Seizures. So the number of Cross Channel Seizures of  2836 is also only 1.3 % compared against the number of seizures Overseas ie Calais? 

That's a bloody lot isn't it? There may ofcourse be lorries with a million cigarettes or so seized Overseas but lorries get seized in Dover too. Can't handle them figures ....

Let's look at Air Seizures then and compare it to the Cross-Channel Seizures. Theres no lorries or cars involved here, luggage is restricted to 20-25kg. They state that 244m cigarettes were seized re Air Seizures. The figure of 11m cigarettes is only 4.5% of 244m cigarettes. 

The number (people) of Cross-Channel Seizures is also 4.5% compared to Air Seizures then ... it has to be. Therefore the number of Air Seizures is 63,016!

Divide that number of 63.016 by the number of main UK airports (31) and you get an average of 2032 seizures per airport per year. Now divide that number of 2032 by the number of days in the year (365) and you get just over 5 seizures per day per airport. Not so unbelievable now is it!

This figure does NOT include HRT (tobacco) or Maritime Seizures or lnland Seizures or Overseas Seizures. 

FOI's have gone into UKBA for their total number of seizures per year .... do you think they'll give them?  :)

Aerial View of Vehicles Stolen by UKBA

UKBA wont give the exact number of vehicles they steal ... just say it's over 5000 a year. Here is just some of them ... currently about 1200 at this location (next to forest area and all way round). Zoom in here and have a look round. See the double security gates, collection point etc etc. Won't show you inside perimeter fence obviously but you can can go everywhere else.

h/t the wonderful Amanda :)

UKBA rob 3kg tobacco off Deaf Shopper

Here's another account of UKBA 'justice' from George Kirk. He writes :-


"80% Deaf 67 year old male 3kg of Golden Virginia questioned by UKBA officer Kevin Lazzerini at 1 am at Prestwick Airport Scotland, After a long journey from the south of Spanish mainland.

Requested a fluent ENGLISH speaker who did not have a speech impediment,- Refused 

Requested to answer his mumblings on a written paper - Refused,

Requested he look at me when asking his questions so I could lip read,- Refused, 

Requested I record his questions on mobile phone - Refused, 

Requested I read his notebook - Refused 

Requested the return of my legally purchased Spanish tax paid goods - Yes Refused

Requested UKBA inform me of their poilcy dealing with deaf people - Refused

Requested UKBA take my complaint seriously - Refused 

 

I have now been issued with a writ costing thousands of pounds so to allow UKBA to burn my tobacco (3 kg) Rather than let me burn the said tobacco between my fingers
And the country is suppose to be on it's knees with public spending debts
But the best is still to come, I now have a copy of this Itallian sounding Goonies notebook and even if I had been able to look at it I would most certainly never be able to read it Watch out for Picture and judge for yourself"

 

Government policy to support and enhance Smuggling.

"Marlboro said...


lf l was a smuggler my wish list would be:-


1. Government to make all tobacco products very expensive. TICK


2. Government to do everything it can to stop people buying tobacco products in the EU where they are much cheaper. These people then become my customers. TICK


3. Government make it easy to counterfeit all the different brands by bringing in plain packaging. TICK


4. Government make it illegal to display any tobacco products and making it a regulation to hide tobacco products beneath the counter. This then allows the Russian and Chinese brands & counterfeit stuff to be stocked as well. TICK


5. l was going to say Government to disband UKBA/HMRC but seeing as they in reality work for me, the smuggler, that would be stupid.


Oh, happy days!"



And this dear folks is what Marlboro is talking about. Yes you are reading it right ... only 1kg of tobacco, 800 cigarettes, 200 cigarillos, 12 cases of beer, 6 bottles of wine and a bottle of JD. They took the lot ... and his CAR!

Pic courtesy of  daytripper

Gang steals over 5000 cars per year with total impunity

Ok, well not exactly a gang ... the UKBA. They confiscate over 5000 cars per year from people who have brought back tobacco from the EU in their vehicles. What the actual figure is we have no idea ... they just say over 5000. Even MP's cant get an answer as UKBA say it would be too expensive to produce that figure :)

What? how difficult can it be? Are all the confiscations listed on UKBA's computers or not? lf they are (as they damn well should be) a 5 yr old could get the figure. So, we have a government agency saying that they don't know how many vehicles they've confiscated. Yet, these vehicles are then auctioned off  so how do they account for the money they get for them? Then some are scrapped ... how do they account for the money for this?

Despite the High Court saying that confiscating cars is not justified when the value of the car far outweighs any duty being allegedly avoided, it still goes on ... daily. I agree that some will be smugglers but not all by any means. On the prog Smugglers on ITV tonight we saw a man get his car confiscated because him and his mate had 50kg of tobacco. Fair enough you might think but how about the guy who had his 3 yr old van confiscated because he had 4kg of tobacco? No, it wasn't on the prog, it's an appeal l'm dealing with at this moment in time.

You've probably seen some of the comments on Simon's blog saying that what happens at the borders with UK shoppers isn't an issue and is of no concern. Well, excuse me but it bloody well is. People are getting their lives ruined by the UKBA on the most flimsiest excuses and yet it doesn't matter??  To us it does!

Returning to the prog, SBC commented :-

"The man from Up North with the company car was a prime example of what not to do.

Ok he was no doubt a smuggler and not a legit shopper but he could give a Master Class in how to have your goods and car confiscated.

He lied, he changed his story and worst of all he concealed."

 l totally agree and another case of showing what happens when you go shopping totally unprepared. l also agree with that he was a smuggler but let me give you another scenario. If 2 family men who smoked went and bought 25kg each for personal use and they were totally prepared they could follow the path of Zaphod who brought back 27kg of tobacco for personal use ... even though he does not smoke roll-ups!.

Go prepared folks ... or pay the price!

l'm bringing in cigarettes for my own personal use so ....

.... that means l'm fighting smuggling! l can't afford UK prices and l don't want to be illegal and buy off white van man. Therefore I go to the EU and purchase duty paid cigarettes and obey the regs/laws but there is a problem ... the UKBA don't want me to and do everything in their power to stop me.

That can only mean one thing .... they are the white van men!

lt's about time someone stopped them ... l'm doing my bit, are you? lf you are a smoker it's your duty to buy your tobacco abroad.

Let's get rid of this UKBA corruption!

UK part of EU or the former USSR?

Nomine in the comments of previous post mentioned 'upon my return' to UK and it's something l've never given much thought to. Looking at my stop and search/interrogation history (as best l can remember) shows some interesting facts.

l've been in the casino industry for approx 30 years. The UK doesn't really have what l call casinos, l think of casinos like the type you see in USA although lreland also comes into it. Not because of casinos but because they use casino slot machines ... and many of them. l've travelled extensively and visited many countries and all more than once.

Early 90's l did a lot of business in Northern Ireland. l was constantly going back and forth in a transit van delivering and picking up casino slot machines. l used the ferry from the UK and went into Belfast and Larne. Remember that this was the time of the 'troubles' but in all my visits l was stopped and searched a grand total of  ZERO!

I was also visiting other countries in regards to the casino industry and yes, l have been stopped and searched in other countries. These were USSR, East Germany and Bulgaria (pre EU membership) and all just merited 1 stop and search each.

Countries where l haven't been stopped and searched despite numerous visits include USA (pre 9/11 and after), Canada, Mexico, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, vast majority of Caribbean Islands, Germany, Holland, Greece incl the islands, ltaly, France, Belgium, Poland, former Yugoslavia, Spain, Canary Islands, Turkey, Cyprus, Malta, Egypt, Israel, South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, Portugal, South America, Croatia, Albania. This is not full list but you get the picture.

Upon my return to UK l've been stopped and searched many times. So many that l've lost count. Last year alone was 5 times. Here's the thing though, l've only been stopped and searched when returning from EU countries and none of the others. Yet, l have friends visiting me from these same countries but they don't seem to attract the same attention as myself but there again, l'm a British Citizen and they are not. My own wife (Bulgarian) was travelling back and forth from Bulgaria (pre EU) and she's never been stopped and searched ... then or since. Yet l have friends who are British Citizens and they have.

Another interesting point is that in all my stop and searches, the only thing UKBA/HMRC/Customs have been interested in is tobacco. Never once have l had a body search or have they looked for anything else except tobacco. l only carry tobacco when my stocks for personal use are low or l am buying it as gifts for family. Most times l'm carrying none at all and the UKBA/HMRC/Customs seem totally crestfallen when this is the case. You'd think this would help when l am stopped and searched when l am carrying tobacco but no, that is not the case. They imply, accuse, speculate that ALL my trips involve tobacco! ... now that's straight out of the KGB, Stasi handbook. Guilty unless proven otherwise!

The UKBA/HMRC/Customs never take into account when you travel and don't bring any tobacco back after they've stopped and searched you.. They certainly don't log it but they supposedly log it when you do carry tobacco. To do otherwise would not suit them, would it? The mere fact that you travel and don't get stopped and searched or do get searched and they find nothing goes against you ... not for you. l have to try and change that.

So, what to do? Well, l've decided that whenever l travel and return to UK l'm going to actively seek out the UKBA and demand to be stopped and searched. l shall then log it along with the details and id's of the UKBA officers involved. l shall of course audio record it as well and hopefully soon video it. l shall build up my own travel history. As l'm not a smuggler and only buy for my own personal use l can happily do this.

l wonder how UKBA will react? Will they say l'm wasting their time? Well tough, they've wasted enough of mine. Another point to bear in mind is that by my actions some lucky traveller will be spared this harassment because the UKBA are tied up dealing with me. Interesting times ahead, m'thinks.

Right, where do l fancy going to next?  Decisions, decisions  :)