Inside the illegal tobacco factory

An illegal tobacco factory has been discovered hidden in an industrial unit in the Black Country, it has been revealed today.

Machinery and 600 kilos of tobacco was found at the makeshift factory in Willenhall during a raid by HM Revenue & Customs teams.

There was enough tobacco to make an average of 1.2million rolled cigarettes which officials said were destined to be peddled in pubs, work places, car boot sales and even on street corners. The estimated loss in revenue to the public purse is around £135,000.

Click on the numbers below to see more images from the illegal factory.

A residential property in the town was also raided during the operation and officers seized semi-processed tobacco, processed tobacco, counterfeit Golden Virginia wrappers, counterfeit European tax stamps and the final product from the factory.

Weighing scales and other processing paraphernalia were also seized but no arrests were made and those behind the sophisticated operation are still being hunted.

Assistant director of Criminal Investigation for HM Revenue & Customs Adrian Farley described the conditions inside the plant as "appalling" and said the cigarettes could have proved dangerous to those who smoked them.

Mr Farley said: "We will do everything we can to disrupt the activity of those involved in the illegal manufacture of tobacco products. Clearly, there are no safeguards with such counterfeit products, which are unlicensed and unregulated and the conditions in which these were being manufactured was appaling.

The sites were raided on Monday but the locations where the equipment and counterfeit products were uncovered have not yet been disclosed as investigations continue.nextpage