£36m cigarette gang caught after encrypted messages cracked
Two men who smuggled 117 million cigarettes into the UK have been jailed for more than 14 years after their encrypted messages were accessed by investigators from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
Hazhar Mohammad-Pani, 31, and Hubert Smolarek, 41, from Rochdale, and Maciej Dzikowski, 49, from London, were caught using data from Operation Venetic, the UK law enforcement response to the takedown of encrypted comms platform EncroChat.
The gang used the platform to discuss the smuggling and selling of illicit cigarettes across the UK and moving cash out of the country.
HMRC investigators used the messages to help prove the gang smuggled 117 million cigarettes between 29 March and 12 June 2020, worth £36 million in lost duty and taxes.
Gang members were also convicted of money laundering. They sent approximately £8 million in cash out of the country during the first lockdown in 2020, including £1.6 million which was seized by officers at Dover in May 2020.
EncroChat conversations revealed the huge scale of the crime over a ten-week period and the slang used to discuss their trade. Cash was referred to in EncroChat messages as paper, £10,000 was known as a sandwich, and the lorries transporting the cash were called sandwich taxis. The UK was nicknamed The Wild Country or The Island.
Cigarette sales were so vast, it took five-hour sessions for gang members to count cash and they wore face masks to protect themselves from the dust thrown up.
Money was sent to Poland and to a mysterious figure known as ‘Big Boss’. The messages also included incriminating images of gang members hiding cash in supermarket bags and unloading cigarettes using forklift trucks.
Carmine Di Franco, Assistant Director, Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC, said:
“In the fight against serious organised crime, the Encrochat operation was the largest and most significant law enforcement activity ever mounted in the UK. The recovery of messages helped HMRC to dismantle a significant gang involved in smuggling and supplying illegal cigarettes.
“Organised crime harms communities and businesses and costs the UK millions of pounds which should be spent on vital public services
“We are determined to cut off the funds that are the lifeblood of serious crime in the UK.
“We encourage anyone with information about the illegal sale of tobacco to report it online or call the Fraud Hotline on 0800 788 887.”
Mohammad-Pani worked with Smolarek, who sourced cigarettes from Polish sellers, and the men sold them to customers around the UK. Dzikowski also supplied Mohammad-Pani with Polish-sourced cigarettes.
Lorries made three deliveries a week to storage units in Liverpool, Rochdale and Haslingden and to a farm in Loughborough. The lorries contained fake loads of plasterboard with hidden compartments for the cigarettes or had false paperwork to disguise the load as frozen food.
Cash was handed over in car parks and laybys.
On two occasions millions of cigarettes being smuggled into the UK were intercepted at Immingham and Dublin ports. The gang also used the Encrochat platform to discuss the steps they took to avoid being caught on the roads as the UK entered the first lockdown to combat Coronavirus and the Stay at Home message was launched.
When Mohammad-Pani was arrested, HMRC found £16,655 hidden under a baby’s changing mat and in a nappy bag and £13,000 was found in a bedroom in Smolarek’s house when he was arrested, along with a key to one of the gang’s storage units.
Hazhar Mohammad-Pani pleaded guilty to conspiring to fraudulently evade tobacco duty on 1 March 2021 and transfer criminal property on 25 March 2021 at Manchester Crown Court.
Maciej Dzikowksi pleaded guilty to conspiring to fraudulently evade tobacco duty and transfer criminal property on 26 March 2021 at Manchester Crown Court.
Hubert Smolarek pleaded guilty to conspiring to fraudulently evade tobacco duty and transfer criminal property on 1 November 2021 at Manchester Crown Court.
Mohmammad-Pani was sentenced to seven and a half years in jail and Smolarek was sentenced to seven years and four months in jail at Manchester Crown Court on 30 November 2021.
Maciej Dzikowski will be sentenced at Manchester Crown Court at a later date.
Notes to Editors
- Hazhar Mohammad-Pani (DOB 20/9/1990), Entwisle Road, Rochdale, Greater Manchester, pleaded guilty to conspiring to fraudulently evade tobacco duty and transfer criminal property between 29 March and 12 June 2020 and was sentenced to seven and a half years at Manchester Crown Court on 30 November 2021.
- Hubert Smolarek (DOB 20/2/1980), Bury and Rochdale Old Road, Heywood, Greater Manchester, pleaded guilty to conspiring to fraudulently evade tobacco duty and transfer criminal property between 29 March and 12 June 2020. He was sentenced to seven years and four months at Manchester Crown Court on 30 November 2021.
- Maciej Dzikowski (DOB 19/11/1972), Mission Square, Brentford, London, pleaded guilty to conspiring to fraudulently evade tobacco duty and transfer criminal property between 29 March and 12 June 2020 and will be sentenced at Manchester Crown Court at a later date.
- Follow HMRC Press Office on Twitter @HMRCpressoffice
Original post location: £36m cigarette gang caught after encrypted messages cracked | HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) (mynewsdesk.com)
Author of post: HMRC
