Cigarette smuggler jailed for £116k operation

A cigarette smuggling man from Sunningdale has been jailed for his part in a £116,000 counterfeit operation.
Michael Ali, 60, of Cross Road, was sentenced to 18 months in prison at Leeds Crown Court.
Ali was part of a five-man gang that tried to import cigarettes from Belgium, intended for sale in Yorkshire and the North West.
The gang were foiled by officers from the HM Revenue and Customs after their plan to use a Yorkshire-based textile firm's identity was rumbled.
They had hidden cigarettes among bath and tea towels which were then uncovered by officers as they were being unloaded at a self-storage depot in Pontefract, Yorkshire.
More than half a million Blue Superking cigarettes were found in boxes, thought to be worth an estimated £116,000 in lost excise duty and VAT.
The four other members involved in the smuggling operation were also found guilty of the offence and sentenced to various periods behind bars or durations of community service.
Ali had pleaded guilty to all the charges at Leeds Crown Court on November 3 last year.