Pair had 500,000 fake cigarettes, court told

Two men were caught with almost 500,000 counterfeit cigarettes in the back of a van they were driving in Staffordshire, a court heard.

Hiwa Ali and Abdullah Karim, both from the Black Country, were stopped by two police officers in Lichfield in November 2009.

They found 31 boxes of fake Superkings in the Renault van, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard yesterday. Officers from HM Revenue and Customs later discovered £90,000 in duty had not been paid on the cigarettes.

Ali, aged 27, of Penkridge Street, Walsall, and Karim, 34, of Glentworth Gardens, Dunstall, Wolverhampton, were then arrested.

In interview they both denied knowing that the boxes contained 496,000 counterfeit cigarettes.

Miss Laura Hobson, prosecuting, told the court: "Just before 8pm, two police officers had cause to stop a van on the Wall Island in Lichfield.

"It was being driven by Ali with Karim as the passenger. The police officers looked in the back of the van. It was full of cardboard boxes.

"Inside were a large number of cigarettes.

"No tobacco duty had been paid and they were counterfeit."

She said the police officers seized a book from the van which contained a number of addresses linked to previous seizures of illicit cigarettes.

Miss Hobson told the court both men said they were simply transporting the boxes for a third party and thought they contained household items.

They claimed they had driven the van from Leeds and were heading to Wolverhampton, not knowing the cigarettes were in the back.

However, Miss Hobson said the pair told slightly different stories to the police about who they were transporting the boxes for.

She added: "Cigarettes and tobacco are subject to a certain duty. It's quite a high duty. There are occasions when people try to avoid paying that duty.

"It is quite a profitable business.

"The question here is whether these two men knew about the cigarettes."

Ali and Karim deny knowingly being concerned in the dealing of goods with a duty that has not been paid.

The trial continues.