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Jail for smuggler who made £95k from selling duty-free cigarettes

Jail for smuggler who made £95k from selling duty-free cigarettes

Friday 16 December 2022

Jail for smuggler who made £95k from selling duty-free cigarettes

Friday 16 December 2022


A 32-year-old who made close to £100,000 by selling on 37kgs of duty-free tobacco and more than 11,000 cigarettes he got from the Airport has been jailed for 15 months.

Aaran Howard Eastwood sentenced in the Royal Court this morning alongside Antonio Paulino De Andrade (60), who was given a fine of £6,000 for selling the goods locally for profit.

Charges were brought against the pair following a lengthy investigation by Jersey Customs and Immigration Service.

Jersey-born Eastwood received his custodial sentence for nine counts of fraudulently evading duty on tobacco and cigarettes at the airport between October 2020 and October 2021.

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Pictured: Antonio Paulino De Andrade (60), who was given a fine of £6,000 for selling the goods locally for profit.

His multiple trips over this time period were said to be purely for the purposes of furthering his criminal attempts to evade significant amounts of duty.

Evidence showed that Eastwood evaded the duty on 37kg of hand-rolling tobacco and 11,200 cigarettes, amounting to almost £25,000 of duty evaded.

Financial investigations showed he made over £95,000 from his crimes, which was then confiscated by the court.

Eastwood was also sentenced for the importation of a small quantity of diazepam tablets, a Class C drug.

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Pictured: Some of the cigarettes smuggled by the pair.

De Andrade, from Madeira, was given a fine of £6,000 for knowingly acquiring tobacco goods on which duty had not been paid.

Senior Manager, Paul Le Monnier said: “Aaran Eastwood evaded duty of nearly £25,000 over a period of year by smuggling cigarettes and tobacco into Jersey.

"The tobacco goods were then supplied to his co-accused who was selling them locally for profit."

Anyone aware of drug smuggling can report it anonymously by calling 0800 735 5555.

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