Eight charged with £1.1m cigarette theft in Southampton
Eight men have been charged over the theft of cigarettes worth £1.1m from Southampton's docks in June.
Six men, from Kent and Essex have been charged with conspiracy to steal 300,000 packets of cigarettes as well as a lorry trailer used in the theft.
They have been bailed to appear before Southampton magistrates on 7 January 2011.
Hampshire police have also charged two men from Norfolk with possession of criminal property.
They are due to appear at the same court on 6 January.
The American Legend cigarettes were stolen from a unit at the dockyard on Monday 7 June.
The accused, aged between 28 and 51, are from Norwich in Norfolk, Dagenham, Colchester and Maldon in Essex and from Sheerness and Ashford in Kent.
The charges follow an investigation by Hampshire Constabulary's Serious and Organised Crime Unit (SOCU).