A freight distribution manager who smuggled over 14m cigarettes in lorries carrying fruit and vegetables in a bold bid to evade £2.5m in duty and VAT, has been jailed.

Barry Wood, 45, from Maidstone in Kent, was jailed for six years and six months. His Romanian partner in crime, Romulus Boca, also received a three year prison sentence after he was caught driving a lorry loaded with millions of smuggled cigarettes.

HMRC investigators intercepted the cigarettes in two separate lorry loads at Dover Docks in July and November 2010. In total, 14.6m cigarettes with an estimated duty loss of £2,516,257 were seized from the two hauls.

Peter Hollier, HMRC assistant director of criminal investigation, said: 'These men used their positions in a transport company, and their knowledge of the freight industry, to set up this smuggling operation. They are criminals out to make a profit without concern for the consequences for the livelihoods of honest shopkeepers.

'The sentences will send out a clear message to those attempting to avoid paying their dues that the penalties can be severe.'

The first vehicle was stopped at Dover Docks in the early hours of Tuesday 20 July 2010. The documents with the load stated that it contained fruit and vegetables, but officers found a large number of crudely concealed cardboard boxes containing more than six million illicit cigarettes.

A second smuggling attempt was foiled four months later, when a lorry driven by 32-year-old Romulus Boca was searched at Dover Docks and over eight million smuggled cigarettes were found. Boca was arrested and charged with smuggling offences. Although he absconded abroad while on bail, he was found and extradited back to the UK.

His Honour Judge Byers on sentencing the two men said: 'You cheated every honest taxpayer in the UK and in particular small businesses in the Kent area. The sentence must punish you to reflect the seriousness of the crime and send a clear message that these offences will be dealt with severely by the courts.'

Confiscation proceedings are now underway to recover the criminal profits of this crime.