A lorry driver from Co Tyrone in Northern Ireland is beginning a two year jail sentence for attempting to smuggle four million cigarettes into the UK concealed in a consignment of lettuces.

Donal McCormack of 2, Pinefields Close, Killyclougher, Omagh was sentenced at Caernarfon Crown Court after he admitted evading tobacco duty. The court had earlier heard that McCormack, 35, had been stopped by HM Revenue & Customs officers as he arrived in the UK at Portsmouth Ferry Port on 16 May this year. A search of his lorry revealed four million cigarettes concealed beneath pallets of lettuces. The estimated amount of duty that would have been evaded, had they reached the open market, is £750,000.

McCormack was questioned and released on bail pending further enquiries, but on 13 July he was stopped at Holyhead Ferry Port. He had just arrived in Wales on the Dublin to Holyhead ferry and HMRC officers who stopped him discovered that a suitcase in his possession contained 200,000 Euros and £33,000. The cash was seized and McCormack arrested.

Speaking after the case Donald Toon, Head of Investigation for HMRC, said:

"The large amount of cigarettes seized at Portsmouth and the significant sum of cash discovered at Holyhead shows that tobacco smuggling is not a small scale, victimless crime. It can be highly organised and lucrative and we are working to tackle that threat.

"HM Revenue & Customs is determined to stamp out smuggling and continues to be successful in its bid to reduce the number of illegal cigarettes available on the open market. Today's sentence serves as a warning to anyone who is tempted to commit this type of crime and defraud public services of vital funding."

The case was successfully prosecuted by the Revenue & Customs Prosecutions Office (RCPO). RCPO is an independent prosecuting authority that reports to the Attorney General and is responsible for the prosecution of all HMRC cases in England and Wales.