The UK Border Agency (UKBA) has just released details about a number of trucks it stopped in the last week of November, seizing more than 300,000 litres of beer, cider, wine and spirits from lorry drivers who were trying to smuggle booze into the UK to cater for the drink-thirsty British public.
Cheap booze from the back of a lorry certainly has its temptations, considering the high price tag some pubs are charging, but the UKBA detained it on the suspicion that the traders involved were attempting to avoid paying excise duty and VAT.
In the last week of November, the following were detained:
- 23 November: 14,000l of vodka from a lorry at Dover.
24 November: 70,000l of beer, 2,000l of cider from three HGVs at Dover.
13,500l of sprits from HGV at Dover.
13,000l of wine in truck at Poole. Cargo was described as car parts.
25 November: 25,000l of beer from lorry at Dover.
21,500l of whisky in truck at Portsmouth.
24,000l of beer from lorry at Dover.
80,000l of wine in five containers at Tilbury.
29 November: 25,000l of beer in truck at Dover.
30 November: 24,000l of beer and 1,000l of cider from HGV at Dover.
I too, like the majority of the UK public, am extremely fond of a tipple.
2010-12-30
Border patrol detains £1m worth of booze lorry loads at UK ports... - The Lorry Crime Blog
