A man who smuggled more than two million cigarettes has been jailed for six years, nearly eight years after the haul was discovered in Felixstowe.

Wakas Rauf, of Rachels Way, Chesham, imported cigarettes worth £576,821 in unpaid duty, an investigation by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) revealed.

Two separate loads were found by Border Force officers with 1,484,000 cigarettes on the back of a lorry, concealed under a cover load of noodles, at Felixstowe in February 2012. Six months later another delivery of 982,800 cigarettes was found hidden under a cover load of pocket tissues.

The 38-year-old fled to Pakistan two days before he was due to stand trial on two counts of excise fraud and four counts of VAT fraud. Raif was captured when he returned to the UK eight months later and was intercepted at Heathrow airport by HMRC officers.

Rauf admitted VAT and excise fraud at Southwark Crown Court on 14 February 2020 and 10 July 2020 and was jailed for six years last Friday at the same court.

Richard Wilkinson, Assistant Director, Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC, said: "This was a deliberate attempt to steal more than £1.5 million of taxpayers' money and deprive our public services of vital funding. Rauf's actions undermined legitimate and hardworking traders and then he thought he could evade justice by fleeing the country.

"We will continue to work closely with partner authorities and relentlessly pursue tax criminals like Rauf. We encourage anyone with information about VAT fraud or illegal tobacco and alcohol to report it online or call our Fraud Hotline on 0800 788 887."