Raids in £50m alcohol fraud probe

Customs officers seized a large amount of alcohol

Large amounts of alcohol and £100,000 in cash have been seized in raids on a suspected multi-million pound smuggling and money-laundering ring.

Nine men and one woman were arrested and bailed after the raids in London, Essex, Kent and Dorset on Thursday.

Customs officers are investigating an alcohol fraud which involves products being diverted for sale on the UK market, avoiding excise duty.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) believe it is part of a £50m operation.

More than 100 HMRC investigators executed 13 search warrants at business and domestic addresses in London, Dartford, Hornchurch, Wanstead, Rayleigh, Shoeburyness, Bournemouth, Christchurch and overseas.

'Large-scale investigation'

The £100,000 in cash was recovered from a property in Bournemouth.

Steve Baker, HMRC assistant director of criminal investigation, said: "This operation is part of a large-scale, criminal investigation into a fraud that may have cost the country up to £50m per year.

"We are committed to tackling excise fraud and to showing the criminals behind it that there are no safe havens.

"We will pursue them, and the money they steal, wherever they operate in the world."

Those arrested and bailed were a 28-year-old man from Dartford, a 48-year-old man from Hornchurch, a 33-year-old man from Wanstead and a 55-year-old man from London.

Two men aged 52 and 46 and a 45-year-old woman, all from Shoeburyness, a 53-year-old man from Rayleigh, a 43-year-old man from Bournemouth and a 59-year-old man from Christchurch were also held and released on bail.