CUSTOMS & EXCISE - ACTUAL CASES

A jobless man from Durham ordered 800 cigarettes and 800 grammes of hand-roll tobacco from a Spanish website for £137. But the goods were seized by Customs officers before he received them. His order was under the UNOFFICIAL limit of 800 cigarettes and 1kg of tobacco that travellers can bring in, but he was told that by law he should have informed Customs and arranged to pay tax. A Customs spokesman said the sites “are a con” and tax is payable on cigarettes bought on the internet.

Customs officers seized a mans BMW, even though he’d never been abroad in his life. Two plain-clothes officers armed with a warrant knocked on his door. They suspected he had tobacco in the house. The 48-year-old, who doesn’t even own a passport, said, “I told them I did have tobacco, and they made a note of everything I had.” He had 3,000 cigarettes, 1kg of Old Holborn, 2kg of Drum tobacco and 0.2kg of Golden Virginia. The Customs men then asked to search his BMW parked outside and found 400 Benson and Hedges in the boot. They then accused him of selling the stuff from his door. “They then said, "We aren’t going to charge you with anything so your job will be safe, but we’re taking your car". His appeal against the seizure of his £6,500 J-reg BMW was rejected.

A grandad was ordered to produce his wedding certificate to a Customs bully, to prove he was making an “honest” trip. His 800 cigarettes, 20 packs of tobacco and a few bottles of beer and spirits met unofficial guidelines but the power-mad Dover official warned him not to cross the Channel again for SIX MONTHS.

Cars impounded from people returning to Britain were auctioned off at giveaway prices. Examples included £70 for a 1991 sky-blue Ford Sierra LX 1.8 with 32,000 miles on the clock and £60 for a Nissan Bluebird 1.8 GS four-door saloon. In total, 30 cars fetched just £5,475. Fourteen were sold for £100 or less and two — an E-reg Audi 100 Avant two-litre and a Ford Sierra 1.8L of similar age — went for £20. Both were in excellent condition. Highest price was £825 for a 1992 Mercedes 190E. Some had been stored for up to two years while owners made vain appeals for their return. The owners had no say in their disposal and did not know of the auction. Prices were so low because Customs chiefs made no attempt to obtain documentation for the cars. Buyers were told they would have to apply for a new log-book from the DVLA and arrange MoTs, insurance and tax.

Two judges ordered Customs and Excise to return drink, cigarettes and a car seized from a family at Dover last summer, or pay them compensation. Since the car had been off the road for so long, they were told to have it serviced first. Lord Justice Brooke and Mr Justice Bell said the mindset of Customs policy-makers "has not embraced the world of an internal market where excise goods can move freely across internal frontiers, subject only to checks made where there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that an individual traveller holds alcohol or tobacco for a commercial purpose and not for his own use".

The test case was brought by Hoverspeed, the ferry operator, on behalf of two of its passengers who were on a shopping trip last August. After taking the hovercraft to Calais, they drove into Belgium where they bought 25,200 cigarettes, 17.5lb of hand-rolling tobacco, two cases of wine and some spirits. Customs officers said they did not believe they had bought 10,000 cigarettes for their own use. As a result, officers seized all the goods and the car.

They had to travel to Widnes on public transport, returning at 5am after a neighbour collected them from Birmingham. In general, Customs officers have no right to stop and search people or their vehicles at an internal EU frontier unless there are reasonable grounds to suspect them of holding goods bought for commercial purposes. In the absence of such suspicion on an individualised basis, they have no right to impede Community travellers' movement at the frontier for purposes connected with the collection of excise duty. That ruling was made under European Community law which provides for free movement within the internal market of people and goods.

Customs and Excise was ordered to pay 80% of the costs incurred by Hoverspeed on behalf of itself and its passengers. It was granted permission to appeal because of the "great public importance" of the case.

Phil Berriman and Trevor Lyons sold duty-free drink and cigarettes from a boat anchored 13 miles off the coast of Hartlepool. When Mr Berriman sailed into port because of bad weather, Customs officers seized the boat and the goods. Mr Lyons, who is a marine law expert, blasted the 'illegal' move.

Mr Berriman claimed he declared his stock to Customs when he docked in Hartlepool and said, “They just wanted me out of there within a few hours and I said fine. Then they went back on the agreement. We’re confident we’ll get the goods back.” A Customs spokesman said, “The boat and the goods have been detained and still belong to Mr Berriman. The goods hadn't been declared and the duty not paid. We are still carrying out inquiries and have not decided what action we will be taking.”

A European Commissioner vowed action after Chancellor Gordon Brown failed to tell him why British trippers were being deprived of their legal rights. The High Court ruled that Dover Customs had exceeded their powers with random searches to trap tobacco and booze “smugglers”. Yet the searches have continued even though current rules state that the millions of Brits who go on booze cruises every year CAN import as much as they like for their own use. People who breach unofficial “guidelines” of 800 cigarettes, 90 litres of wine and 110 litres of beer may have their goods and car confiscated.

Customs began their “zero tolerance” campaign two years ago after being ordered to get tough on shoppers. They claim that the Exchequer loses £4 billion a year though cigarette and alcohol smuggling. Chiefs boast they cut illegal importing by 76%. Treasury minister John Healey conceded that "Sometimes Customs officers will overstep the mark" when they stop and search people returning from the Continent and added that “99.9%” of travellers were left alone. And he ignored mounting anger at tough tactics used by Customs, urging victims to make formal complaints. They even flouted a High Court ruling which outlawed their random searches which, according to their own rules, they don't do!

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