ALMOST two million cigarettes were seized at Harwich International Port after two separate smuggling attempts were thwarted in the space of six days.

The latest seizure happened on Tuesday morning when officers discovered 400,000 cigarettes concealed inside pallets of laminate flooring on a lorry that had arrived from the Hook of Holland.

On Thursday April 14, officers found 1,300,000 cigarettes hidden inside a shipment of ovens – also on a lorry travelling from the Hook of Holland.

Charlotte Mann, Border Force Assistant Director at Harwich, said: “When the vehicles were selected for x-ray, the scanner indicated anomalies in the loads.

“Further physical examinations revealed the cigarette packaging.

“By stopping these shipments we have starved those responsible of the proceeds of their criminality.”

“People tempted by cheap cigarettes and tobacco should think again.

“The black market cheats honest traders and it is effectively stealing from the public purse.”

Had the smuggling attempts proved successful it could have cost the Treasury approximately £750,000 in unpaid duty and VAT.