TWO men who tried to smuggle counterfeit cigarettes worth £1.2m into the country through Southampton have been locked up.

Ihtesham Ali Hassan and Amjid Arfane Saddiq were both sentenced to 18 months in prison after attempting to smuggle the cigarettes through Southampton Container Port concealed inside cheap wooden doors.

The pair attempted to dodge more than £280,000 in excise duty by importing the cigarettes in a 20ft cargo container in June last year.

UK Border Agency officers discovered the haul in a container, supposedly carrying “105 cartons of dishware” imported from China.

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Hassan, the director of an import company, was arrested in September 2008 and Saddiq, a newsagent, in February 2009.

Hassan, 30, of Cefn Coed Road, Cardiff, and Saddiq, 31, of Scalloway Road, Cambuslang, Glasgow, were jailed after being found guilty by a jury at Southampton Crown Court.

Peter Avery, assistant director Criminal Investigation for HM Revenue and Customs, said: “The fact that these cigarettes were concealed inside wooden doors shows this was a deliberate attempt to evade payment of duty – money that should have been available to help fund vital public services.

“Smugglers are only out to make a profit and do not care about the wider harm they cause society by importing unregulated and unlicensed cigarettes.

“Our officers will continue to root out those criminals who attempt to smuggle goods illegally into the UK.”