A man who smuggled counterfeit tobacco into the UK through the post from China, in packages labelled 'tea', has been jailed.
The parcels were sent to at least seven mailbox locations in the South West, avoiding excise duty of £171,000.
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) investigations revealed that, between May and August 2012, Cheng Wu, 34, imported 750kg of hand rolling tobacco from China in 2kg parcels.
Simon De-Kayne, HMRC assistant director, criminal investigation, said: "These were highly organised importations of tobacco from China.
"Wu obviously thought by smuggling smaller quantities of tobacco by post he would avoid capture, but by working closely with our law enforcement partners and the vigilance of local business not only has he been caught, he also faces deportation.
"Tobacco fraud costs the UK Government around £1.8 billion a year.
"Anyone with information about this type of crime should contact the Customs Hotline on 0800 59 5000."
Wu was arrested by Wiltshire Police officers at a Swindon mailbox address in May 2012, on suspicion of evading excise duty, after the discovery of illegal tobacco by a courier firm.
On sentencing, His Honour Judge Ambrose said: "This case was fraudulent from the outset.
"It was sophisticated in planning and carried out over a significant time."
Wu was jailed for two years. The judge recommended he be deported after his jail term has been served.
The tobacco arrived in the UK in vacuum-packed bags and would have been put in branded 50g pouches for onward sale to the UK market.
The packs were was posted to the Royal Mail sorting office in Weston-super-Mare and six private mailbox addresses in Swindon, Bath, Bristol, Chippenham, Taunton and Westbury-on-Trym.
