Nearly five MILLION illegal cigarettes seized in four-day Border Force blitz at Manchester Airport

Border Force officers seized 4,884,001 illegal cigarettes and 405kg of rolling tobacco, worth an estimated £2.59m, in a four-day crackdown at Manchester Airport, the Home Office says. Smugglers hid their haul in false-bottomed suitcases and modified pillows, while one 'brazen' trafficker was caught with 100,000 cigarettes packed into six suitcases on a flight from Dubai.

Last year Border Force and HMRC seized 1.9 billion illicit cigarettes, securing 201 arrests and 83 convictions.

'Criminals change their tactics, and so do we,' warned Adam Knight, head of Border Force's National Threat Response Team.

Foreign nationals caught face cancelled ETAs, while benefit claimants risk losing payments if fraud is uncovered.