4.3m cigarettes bound for Ireland seized in UK

A lorry driver has been charged in an English court with smuggling after customs officers seized 4

A lorry driver has been charged in an English court with smuggling after customs officers seized 4.3 million cigarettes that were bound for Ireland.

Aleksandrs Yunga (36), of Kuldiga, Latvia, was arrested at Newhaven Ferryport on Monday night. His lorry, which was en route from Dieppe in France to an address in Newbridge, Co Kildare with a cargo of pallets of sausages, was searched.

Officers found 4.3 million L&M cigarettes hidden among the pallets.

Mr Yunga pleaded not guilty to evading duty estimated at around £760,000 (€1.1 million). An application for bail was refused and he was been remanded in custody next month.