A Basingstoke man has been sentenced to more then three years in jail for illegally storing 2.7 million smuggled cigarettes.
Dariusz Kochanek, 29, was caught hiding the non-UK duty paid cigarettes inside a barn in Bramley, evading around £660,000 in excise duty in the process.
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) investigators followed Kochanek to the barn in Ash Lane on June 18 2014, and discovered two shipping containers full of Mayfair and L&M branded cigarettes after raiding the premises.
Kochanek and associate Ireneusz Kosowski, 42, from New Malden in Surrey were both found guilty of tobacco harbouring offences on Tuesday at Winchester Crown Court and sentenced the same day to 42 months in prison.
A third man was found not guilty of smuggling the 2,780,460 cigarettes, with HMRC hoping that the sentence would help deter other criminals from storing illegal tobacco.
Fraud Investigation Service assistant director David Margree said: “These men thought they were under our radar and could get away with smuggling and storing vast quantities of illegal tobacco. “They are now paying the price for their criminal actions.
“Tobacco smuggling robs communities of vital public funds and harms the livelihood of legitimate retailers.”
Anyone with any information regarding smuggling, storage or the sale of illegal tobacco should contact the Customs Hotline on 0800595000.