Duo jailed for evading excise duty on cigarettes

Marek Prystupa, 42, of Gainsborough Road, 
Reading, was found guilty of being knowingly concerned 
in the fraudulent evasion 
of excise duty, while Aso Taha Ahmed, 31, of
 Tottenham High Road, London, pleaded guilty to the same offence.

Both men were jailed for two years at Luton Crown Court on Friday (June 10).

Revenues and Customs officers caught the duo meeting at a DIY store car park in Hemel on June 11, 2014. During a search of the van Ahmed had driven into the car park, officers found 300,000 illicit cigarettes on which £71,831 duty had not been paid.