POLICE discovered a 'staggering' £4 million worth of illegal cigarettes as an ‘unexpected bonus’ while searching for stolen mini-diggers in Crowton.
A man and women were taken into custody after officers from Cheshire Police’s Rural Crime Team went to Kingsley on Wednesday, May 21, to arrest a man on suspicion of theft.
The planned arrest was part of an investigation in stolen plant equipment, including mini-diggers.
Police then went to an address in Crowton where plant equipment was discovered and seized.
While searching two nearby storage containers, officers found the huge quantity of cigarettes in hundreds of stacked up cardboard boxes.
They are believed to be worth around £4 million.
After making the surprise discovery, police called in colleagues from HMRC to recover the cigarettes and investigate further.
A 53-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of theft, and a 41-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of obstructing a police officer and conspiracy to commit fraud.
Sergeant Rob Simpson of the Cheshire Police’s Rural Crime Team said: “The raids are part of an investigation into the theft of plant machinery from a business in Crewe.
“As part of the investigation we seized a variety of plant equipment which was stored on land in Crowton and Kingsley.
“The staggering amount of cigarettes we found in two containers were an unexpected bonus and have been handed to HMRC for their investigation.
“A successful day all round, I’d say.”
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