Two men jailed after huge underground factory which could have produced 1m illegal cigarettes a day is raided in NI

Two men have been jailed after an underground cigarette factory was discovered in County Armagh by customs officers.
By Jonathan McCambridge
Published 16th Oct 2020, 15:23 BST
The underground factory discovered by customs officialsThe underground factory discovered by customs officials
The underground factory discovered by customs officials

Reinolds Kondrats, 30, and Germans Solovjovs, 26, were arrested at a house on on the Ballynaclosha Road in Silverbridge in November 2019.

Searches of an outhouse revealed industrial scale cigarette manufacturing machinery, concealed in an underground concrete bunker that was accessed via a hidden door.

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The men were charged with tax evasion and remanded in custody.

While the sophisticated factory was not yet operational, it was in the process of being set up by the pair and would have been capable of producing 1m cigarettes a day.

The machinery, estimated to be worth £270,000, was seized along with five bags of processed tobacco.

Steve Tracey, Assistant Director, Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC, said: “Trade in illegal tobacco will not be tolerated by us. It undermines legitimate traders, including small, independent shops that serve local communities, and takes funding away from our vital public services.

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That’s why disrupting criminal trade is at the heart of our strategy to clampdown on the illicit tobacco market.

“Anyone with information about this type of crime can report it to HMRC online, or call our Fraud Hotline on 0800 788 887.”

Solovjovs admitted to a further tax evasion charge in relation to a separate fraud in Newry in November 2018, when 1.4 million illicit cigarettes and approximately four tonnes of processed tobacco were seized.

Both men pleaded guilty to all charges last month.

Kondrats and Solovjovs were sentenced to two years imprisonment at Newry Crown Court today.

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Germans Solovjovs, of Ballynaclosha Road in Silverbridge, pleaded guilty to two charges of tax evasion related to two separate incidents in November 2019 and November 2018. He was sentenced two years imprisonment and will spend half of his sentence in jail and the rest on licence.

Reinolds Kondrats of Ballynaclosha Road in Silverbridge, pleaded guilty to one charge of tax evasion on 7 September. He was sentenced to two years imprisonment and will spend half of his sentence in jail and the rest on licence.

The bunker was accessed through a hidden door 10 feet off the ground and covered with a stack of wooden pallets.

The five bags contained 101.3kg of processed tobacco with a duty value of £41,245.87.