RAF Movers Jailed:
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Only a slight tangent, but I do recall in Belize in 1979 we were actually given the ciggies that had been confiscated. They must have come from the UK as I don't recall any Op Plunder or the like taking place in those "good old days"
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I recall many issues of Customs ciggies whilst in Belize during the late 70s. We Puma low lifes only received the brands that the top feeders did not like. Hey Ho! Also we had them issued in Cyprus in the early 70s. They usually came in tins of 50.
I cannot say I am entirely innocent of smuggling ciggies back to UK in service containers, be they wooden crates or airframes! There but for the grace of god go I.
Philrigger.
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... 2 to 3 years in the slammer for just over £1-million in lost
vat and duty ? - Seems well OTT - considering thats the amount pocketed every 14 days or so by 875 Lordships useless mouths in daily attendance and expense allowances !
...
vat and duty ? - Seems well OTT - considering thats the amount pocketed every 14 days or so by 875 Lordships useless mouths in daily attendance and expense allowances !
...
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So the source of cigarettes was Kabul and Muscat, do they actually manufacture UK brand cigarettes there?
I know the ones smuggled to Spain from North Africa and on to the UK are mostly "knock-offs" whose main constituent is reputed to camel dung or other non-tobacco fillings but packaged beautifully.
I have seen it reported that the most lucrative forms of forgery are not currency but wine labels, scent labels and cigarette packaging.
The masterminds who designed this scheme could quite legitimately gone to Ostend and bought the same things tax free.
I know the ones smuggled to Spain from North Africa and on to the UK are mostly "knock-offs" whose main constituent is reputed to camel dung or other non-tobacco fillings but packaged beautifully.
I have seen it reported that the most lucrative forms of forgery are not currency but wine labels, scent labels and cigarette packaging.
The masterminds who designed this scheme could quite legitimately gone to Ostend and bought the same things tax free.
Last edited by ColinB; 25th Mar 2011 at 00:32. Reason: typo
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Well, I do hope they make a load of money from telling their story, I would hate to think they won't profit from their crime. Please post a link to the book when it is published.
I don't own this space under my name. I should have leased it while I still could
KF, sardonic humour?
I am under the impression that the proceeds of crime, such as writing books, could be siezed.
If you are merely guilty of perverting the course of justice and perjury, OTOH, you can write about it with impunity and then go on cruise ships and talk about it.
I am under the impression that the proceeds of crime, such as writing books, could be siezed.
If you are merely guilty of perverting the course of justice and perjury, OTOH, you can write about it with impunity and then go on cruise ships and talk about it.
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My personal opinion is that those returning from Herrick should purchase their 200 cig allowance, sell it to those at home and then donate the profit to H4H. Tax the government!
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And after time inside...
and
.
BBC
Good that crime doesn't pay...in this case
A former RAF senior aircraftman from Teesside jailed for his part in a cigarette smuggling operation has been ordered to pay back £80,000.
The confiscation hearing at Bristol Crown Court also ordered civilian worker Lisa Harrison to repay £95,000
BBC
Good that crime doesn't pay...in this case
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I recall many issues of Customs ciggies whilst in Belize during the late 70s. We Puma low lifes only received the brands that the top feeders did not like. Hey Ho! Also we had them issued in Cyprus in the early 70s. They usually came in tins of 50.
I cannot say I am entirely innocent of smuggling ciggies back to UK in service containers, be they wooden crates or airframes! There but for the grace of god go I.
Philrigger.
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What would you get for gun running?
What did the guys get for gun running in Cyprus, talked to someone who investigated that at the time, narrowly avoided getting assassinated. Did any senior officers get punished?
There was a scam going on with the Brae oil platforms when they were being built. They were the last of the fabricated offshore platforms so had hundreds of workers offshore involved with the building and fiiting out. We were running some nine or ten return trips loaded with nineteen pax every weekday and the flights used to start at 07.00 hrs until late at night. The pax had to go through customs and the procedure for the pax was for them to get off the helicopter and proceed to the area where they removed their immersion suits. Whilst this was happening the baggage handlers would unload the baggage and leave it on trolleys outside the disrobing room. Then they would come down, pick up their baggage; and go through customs.
Customs at Aberdeen were quite busy and there were insufficient staff to handle all three heliports plus the terminal in the evening so quite often they would leave the heliports after the majority of traffic around 17.00hrs. I came in just before the airfield closed with a full load of pax and whilst I was doing the paperwork a baggage handler asked me to whom all the cigarettes belonged to.
I went down with him and on the trollies parked where the baggage was picked up there two large black polythene bags. They had been left behind and a baggage handler had looked inside to see if he could indentify the owner as there were no baggage labels on them. That is when he found out that they were full of cigarettes. I found the answer by looking up at the customs room; customs were packing up for the night.
What had most certainly happened was that somebody(ies) had bought the cigarettes knowing that they were on the last flight with a good chance that customs would not be there. In that case they would pick up the unmarked poly bags and take them through. This time they could see that customs were there so they had just abandoned them.
They were being smuggled in for profit. The result was that allowances were formalised, Offshore workers were allowed a carton which would have covered most of their reqiremnts until the next trip. Unfortunately for pilots it was only one packet, which didn't.
Not that it made any difference.
Customs at Aberdeen were quite busy and there were insufficient staff to handle all three heliports plus the terminal in the evening so quite often they would leave the heliports after the majority of traffic around 17.00hrs. I came in just before the airfield closed with a full load of pax and whilst I was doing the paperwork a baggage handler asked me to whom all the cigarettes belonged to.
I went down with him and on the trollies parked where the baggage was picked up there two large black polythene bags. They had been left behind and a baggage handler had looked inside to see if he could indentify the owner as there were no baggage labels on them. That is when he found out that they were full of cigarettes. I found the answer by looking up at the customs room; customs were packing up for the night.
What had most certainly happened was that somebody(ies) had bought the cigarettes knowing that they were on the last flight with a good chance that customs would not be there. In that case they would pick up the unmarked poly bags and take them through. This time they could see that customs were there so they had just abandoned them.
They were being smuggled in for profit. The result was that allowances were formalised, Offshore workers were allowed a carton which would have covered most of their reqiremnts until the next trip. Unfortunately for pilots it was only one packet, which didn't.
Not that it made any difference.
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The lady convicted in this case always looked very shifty when on shift..this is obviously why and this is not meant as a throwaway comment.
G (Ret'd)
PS Google 'Major HCR tank museum' to find someone else upto something else below the line where I worked....
BBC - Radio 4 - Saturday Live - Home Page
G
(Ret'd)PS Google 'Major HCR tank museum' to find someone else upto something else below the line where I worked....
BBC - Radio 4 - Saturday Live - Home Page
Last edited by gijoe; 14th Sep 2012 at 19:00.
