Yorkshire gang caught running UK's largest illegal cigarette factory which produced 140 packets a minute

John Watson Snr, 47, who was a director of Doncaster Greyhound stadium, Terence Jacques, 60, of Bishop Auckland, and security guard Russell Haywood, 48, from Barnsley, led a 12-man gang that made millions of counterfeit cigarettes which were distributed across the North of England.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) carried out coordinated raids at properties linked to the gang in County Durham and South Yorkshire in November 2015.

Officers discovered the largest tobacco factory ever encountered by HMRC inside a farm unit in Crook, County Durham.

The factory had more than 24 tonnes of tobacco inside, along with 500,000 cigarettes, old imperial tobacco machinery and products used to make the cigarettes. Officers also discovered caravans that were being used by the factory workforce.

The cigarettes produced at the factory were moved to a nearby garden centre, before being distributed to locations in the North East and South Yorkshire.

Watson Snr said he earned less than £15,000 a year at the time, but investigators discovered he had spent more than £180,000 on luxury cars and a holiday.

The court heard how Watson Snr and his right-hand man, Jaques, were responsible for setting up and running the tobacco factory, whilst Haywood managed distribution of the cigarettes across the North of England.

Edward Kennyford, 72, of Doncaster, was in charge of moving cigarettes out of the garden centre. He met with drivers Christopher Wallace, 40, and Steven Quigley, 53, both from Barnsley, at a layby off the A68 in Durham to handover vans filled with the counterfeit goods.

Watson Jnr, 26, from Doncaster, helped load cigarettes into the vans at the garden centre.

Whilst the illegal activity took place the owner of the garden centre, John Seaman, 66, from Stanley, switched off the CCTV cameras.

The drivers delivered the cigarettes to locations across the North East and Yorkshire as instructed by Haywood.

HMRC shut down the illegal factory in November 2015 when officers executed search warrants at the farm unit, garden centre, and home addresses of Watson Snr and Jacques.

Watson Snr fled the scene in his car when officers arrived at his home, but later attended Doncaster police station.

Investigations revealed he had spent more than £180,000 on cars and a holiday for 18 people. At the time he was earning less than £15,000 a year as a director at Doncaster Greyhound stadium.

Jacques was arrested at his home and a search of the property uncovered a bag containing £46,500 cash in his bedside drawer. Fingerprints found on the bag belonged to Watson Snr.

Aleksandravicius and Watson Jnr fled Stanley Garden Centre when HMRC officers arrived, but they were subsequently arrested by police nearby.

Kennyford and Quigley were arrested at a layby near Crook Community Leisure Centre with a van containing 768,000 cigarettes.

A further 256,000 cigarettes were found in Kennyford’s vehicle which was parked at the garden centre.

One month later, Paul Drummond, 49, of Tipton, and Ryan Lowe, 40, of Barnsley, were seen transferring cigarettes worth £96,326 in unpaid duty between two vans outside a storage facility in Barnsley.

Drummond then met with Haywood on a nearby street and exchanged a package containing £20,000 through their vehicle windows. Both men were arrested at the scene.

Seven of the men admitted excise fraud at separate hearings at Leeds and Sheffield Crown Court in 2019.

The remaining five men were found guilty of excise fraud on 10 and 11 February 2020 following a trial at Sheffield Crown Court.

Ten members of the gang were today sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court.

Watson Snr, of Ellison Street, Thorne was found guilty of excise fraud and sentenced to five years and three months in prison.

Haywood, of Intake Gardens, Barnsley, admitted excise fraud and was sent to prison for four years and three months.

Jaques, of Howlea Lane, Hamsterley, was sentenced to five years behind bars after he was found guilty of excise fraud.

Quigley, of Bainton Drive, Barnsley, was found guilty of excise fraud and sentenced to three years and eight months.

Seaman, of Wooley Terrace, Stanley, was found guilty of excise fraud and sentenced to three years and three months in prison.

Lowe, of East End Crescent, Barnsley, admitted excise fraud and was sentenced to two years in prison.

Kennyford, of Princess Avenue, Stainforth, admitted excise fraud and was given a two year and 11 month prison sentence.

Watson Junior, of Runnymede Road, Doncaster, admitted excise fraud and was sentenced to two years and three months in prison.

Wallace, of Elstead Close, Barnsley, admitted excise fraud and was sentenced to 12 months behind bars.

Drummond, of Burnt Tree, Tipton, admitted excise fraud and was sentenced to 13 months in prison suspended for two years. He must also complete 150 hours of unpaid work and was made subject to a four month curfew between 8pm and 6am.

Seremetjevas and Aleksandravicius will be sentenced at the same court on April 2.

Eden Noblett, Assistant Director, Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC, said: “This was a highly sophisticated and well organised illegal operation, which put millions of counterfeit cigarettes on the streets of the UK.

“The illegal tobacco factory was the largest HMRC has ever found, and was capable of producing commercial quantities of cigarettes. The weight of the tobacco found at the factory was equivalent to two London double decker buses.

“Trade in illegal tobacco undermines legitimate traders, including small, independent shops that serve local communities, and takes funding away from our vital public services.

“We encourage anyone with information about the illegal sale of tobacco or alcohol to report it online or call the Fraud Hotline on 0800 788 887.”