Illegal Halesowen tobacco 'factory' police bust

Officers then searched the premises and found 3,000 kilos of tobacco being prepared for the evasion of more than £600,000 worth of duty, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.

Duty free raw tobacco was being processed into rolling tobacco - on which duty is charged - at the warehouse in Malt Mill Lane, Halesowen, explained Mr Nigel Stelling, prosecuting. It was destined for cut price sale at outlets throughout the Midlands.

The two men who were detained - 27-year-old Quing Lin and Shaosa Lin, aged 24 - had just delivered a consignment, revealed Mr Stelling.

The pair were carrying £15,350 from the deal in a rucksack together with keys to the 'factory. They claimed not to know where the money would be taken.

Mr Stelling continued: "The officers went to these premises where they found a substantial amount of tobacco together with equipment that enabled raw leaf tobacco to be converted into hand rolling tobacco. No duty is payable on raw leaf but it is on hand rolling."

Tobacco on which about £180,000 of duty should have been paid was already converted when police arrived while the rest was still to be processed, the court heard. Both men held at the scene were in the country illegally after over staying the time limit on their visa.

Quing Lin, of no fixed address, had been forced to join the racket to pay off debts run up through his gambling addiction.

Mr Stelling disclosed: "He said he had borrowed money which he was unable to repay." So he was put to work at the warehouse after being taught to handle the machinery.

This was supported by text messages found on his mobile phone and accepted by the prosecution. He was paid £250 for every three days of employment during which he stayed overnight at the premises where there were beds and cooking facilities.

Day to day instructions from the loan shark were given to him by a go between whose identity is known but is still being hunted by police.

Shaosa Lin, from Viceroy Close, Edgbaston, earned up to £80-a-day after being offered a job at the factory during the five month tobacco processing operation which ended with the arrest of the two men on October 16 2015.

He also allowed his bank account to be used to pay rent on the building while recruiting other workers and assisting with deliveries.

Both men admitted conspiracy to cheat the public revenue and possession of money obtained through the racket. Each was jailed for two years eight months by Judge James Burbidge QC and face deportation back to China after completing the sentence.