Most wanted cigarette smuggler jailed after extradition from Spain via Plymouth
Convicted cigarette smuggler Malcolm McGowan, who featured on HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) Most Wanted list last month, has been successfully extradited from Spain via Plymouth Ferry Port, and now begins a four-year jail term.
McGowan, 61, originally from Edinburgh, fled the UK 12 years ago after being found guilty of smuggling 28.3 million cigarettes into the country. His crimes robbed the UK of around £4 million in duty and he was sentenced in his absence in December 2001.
McGowan was part of a wider conspiracy to smuggle around 56 million cigarettes into the UK between November 1999 and March 2000. Ten other men were involved in the plot, which robbed the UK taxpayer of over £8.2 million.
Adrian Farley, Assistant Director of Criminal Investigation for HMRC, said:
“McGowan is finally facing UK justice after 12 years on the run. We are determined to pursue fugitives and ensure they face the consequences of their criminal activity. We can now begin to recover the proceeds of his role in the crime which, with daily interest, currently stands at over £345,000.
"HMRC would like to thank the Spanish authorities and UK organisations that assisted with this operation, resulting in McGowan’s extradition via Plymouth Ferry Port.”
McGowan appeared at Sheffield Crown Court this afternoon to finally begin his prison term.
Around the time of McGowan’s arrest in 2000 a number of consignments of cigarettes were seized, including:
17 February 2000 - Customs officers examined three 40 foot containers at Tilbury Docks which had arrived from India , destined for Blackpool, Lancashire . The contents were declared as “ceiling tiles”, which concealed 21 million smuggled cigarettes.
6 March 2000 - a container addressed to the same consignee in Blackpool was intercepted at Southampton Docks on its arrival from China . The contents were again declared as “ceiling tiles”, which concealed a further 6 million smuggled cigarettes.
23 February 2000 - two lorries arrived at a unit in Wath-upon-Dearne, South Yorkshire, which had arrived at Dover Ferry Port from France . The contents were declared as “beds” which concealed over 3.3 million cigarettes.
The gang had carefully chosen and rented the storage facility at Wath-upon-Dearne, a quiet location where their activities would go unnoticed and which was close to the motorway network.
His Honour Judge Julian Goose QC, said today:
“You sought to evade justice and have been on the run for 12 years. You will now serve the four-year sentence you were given in 2001.”
Since this capture, HMRC has added a new fugitive to its Most Wanted List. John Sabin is believed to be in the UK and wanted for his involvement in a £26 million cigarette smuggling fraud. He was responsible for couriering the money in connection with the importation and distribution of cigarettes and hand rolling tobacco.
