Fake cigarettes found in furniture at Felixstowe Port
Fake cigarettes have been found hidden in a container of furniture at Felixstowe Port in Suffolk.
UK Border Agency officials found 20 boxes containing a total of 800,000 cigarettes on Friday when an X-ray showed a discrepancy with the load.
The container had been shipped from China and was destined for Southend in Essex.
The cigarettes will now be shredded and the pulp used to generate electricity for the National Grid.
A Border Agency spokesman said the duty on the load should have been £177,000.
Bill Form, the UK Border Agency's assistant director at Felixstowe port, said: "People who are tempted to buy cheap copies don't realise that the products they are buying are completely unregulated.
"They have been known to contain all manner of unpleasant ingredients, including sawdust and rat droppings."