More than 1,000 litres of alcohol illegally smuggled into the UK has been seized from two Gillingham shops.
The haul includes 670 litres of Italian wine and 475 litres of spirits.
HM Revenue and Customs bosses said the potential duty evaded stands at more than £4,600.
No arrests have been made but enquiries into the illegal alcohol seizures are continuing.
Customs spokesman Bob Gaiger said: “We estimate that spirits fraud alone deprives the public purse of around £350 million a year in lost revenue.
“Working with Kent Police, our teams will pursue businesses or people involved in selling illicit alcohol on which the duty has not been paid.
“Anyone engaged in handling or selling smuggled alcohol should be aware that HMRC teams are active in the area and we are committed to stopping this activity.”
The raids on the two Gillingham convenience stores were carried out by Customs officials on Wednesday, March 10.
Kent Police, the UK Border Agency and Medway Council workers were also involved.
Detective Constable Mark Horner, licensing officer for Medway Police, said: “This multi-agency operation has proved to be very successful and we are very pleased that our colleagues from HMRC were able to assist with the investigation.
“The evasion of duty on alcohol and tobacco is not a victimless crime. This type of crime undermines the economy of this country and directly impacts on the social and economic fabric of our society and the community we serve.
“This is a rolling joint operation between our partner agencies and we will be visiting more premises in the near future.”
Mr Gaiger called on Medway residents to help them bring criminals to justice, saying: “We ask customers to work more closely with us in the fight against crime and we encourage anyone who is aware of illicit alcohol being sold to contact the Customs’ Hotline 0800 59 5000 or email customs.hotline@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk.”
POSTED: 11/03/2010 14:17:55
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