Border Force officers have foiled an attempt to smuggle nearly 30,000 cigarettes through Leeds Bradford International Airport, including thousands hidden inside specially-adapted waistcoats (pictured).
The seizure was made when officers became suspicious that two male passengers arriving on a flight from Vilnius, Lithuania, were wearing bulky and ill-fitting jackets. They were searched, along with a third man travelling with them. All three were Lithuanian.
Officers found 3,800 cigarettes concealed in adapted pouches on the front and back of the two waistcoats. The trio were also found to be carrying 23,700 cigarettes in their hand luggage when they were searched shortly after 11pm on Tuesday.
The cigarettes were seized and will be destroyed, said a Border Force spokesman yesterday.
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