A quantity of illegal alcohol and counterfeit cigarettes has been seized in a HM Revenue and Customs sting at three industrial units in Bolton.
HMRC officers raided the premises where they found palettes of alcohol including 182,000 litres of beer, 1,900 litres of spirits, 4,200 litres of wine and about 37,000 counterfeit cigarettes with initial estimates of duty evasion at £50,000.
It is believed the illegal operation had been operating for many months and the total fraud is expected to be substantially more.
Peter Hollier, of HMRC said: “HMRC is focusing on those that trade on a commercial scale in an attempt to fraudulently evade tax and duty putting honest retailers and licensees out of business.“
One man from Bolton has been arrested and released on bail pending further enquiries.
• Two men have been jailed for three-and-half years for their part in a smuggling scam of 700,000 cigarettes.
The two men were sentenced at Wolverhampton Crown Court for the scam in which £105,000 of excise duty was evaded.
