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Police seize 75,000 litres of illicit beer
More than 75,000 litres of illegal beer has been seized by police at a Scottish port, according to reports.
The crime, which was reported in British national press, involved officers recovering the equivalent of 132,000 pints of illegal lager at the P&O ferry terminal that connects with Larne in Northern Ireland.
The illicit beer was recovered by the police as part of a week-long surveillance operation at the port that the force undertook in partnership with HMRC and is understood to have traveled from the Republic of Ireland, through the north, and into Scotland using HGV transporters.
According to The Sun, at least three lorries were stopped by customs staff carrying out targeted searches for the contraband at Cairnryan
HMRC revealed that it had undertaken the operation to recover the suspected illicit beer alongside Police Scotland as partners in the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce.
Speaking about the operation, an HMRC spokesman said: “We can confirm a total of 75,000 litres of suspected illicit beer was seized at Cairnryan Port between 23 and 28 February 2024 following a joint operation with Police Scotland.”
The spokesperson added: “As committed partners of the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce HMRC and Police Scotland will not tolerate the sale of illegal alcohol. Disrupting criminal trade is at the heart of HMRC’s strategy to clamp down on the illicit alcohol market which costs the UK around £1billion per year.”