Rural Crime Team find £4 million worth of cigarettes while investigating plant machinery theft

Two people have been arrested and £4 million worth of cigarettes have been seized following a police investigation into theft of plant machinery.

On Wednesday 21st May officers from the Cheshire Constabulary’s Rural Crime Team attended an address in Kingsley to arrest a man on suspicion of theft and then carried out a search of land in Crowton.

A variety of plant equipment was seized, along with approximately £4 million worth of cigarettes which were discovered in two storage containers at the site in Crowton. HMRC officers joined police to recover the cigarettes.

A 53-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of theft and the 41-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of obstructing a police officer and conspiracy to commit fraud.

Sgt Rob Simpson, of the Rural Crime Team at Cheshire Constabulary said:

 “The raids are part of an investigation into the theft of plant machinery from a business in Crewe.

“As part of the investigation we seized a variety of plant equipment which was stored on land in Crowton and Kingsley. The staggering amount of cigarettes we found in two containers were an unexpected bonus and have been handed to HMRC for their investigation. A successful day all round I’d say.”