Big load of smuggled cigarettes seized

Customs officers seized a large consignment of cigarettes that had just been smuggled into Malta.

The police said the discovery on Wednesday evening was made after the Customs squad followed a suspicious van noticed leaving Customs in the direction of a garage in Qormi.

The van was later raided by the police and was found to contain five large cases containing thousands of cigarettes on which no duty had been paid.

A number of persons are being questioned by the police.