Statues used to smuggle cigarettes

A CARDIFF woman is facing jail for smuggling cigarettes into Britain hidden under religious statues.
Nicola Stretton, 34, hid the cigarettes in a false compartment of a consignment of Buddha figurines shipped into Southampton from Thailand. Customs officials found hundreds of packs of Marlboro Reds, L&M Lights and L&M filters during a search of the container.
Cardiff Crown Court yesterday heard Stretton was on holiday in Thailand when she noticed that cigarettes were £1 for a pack of 20. She set up a company called Finishing Touches to import religious figures to sell them on eBay and at markets. But the court heard it was a smokescreen to smuggle 857,000 cigarettes into the country.
Office manager Stretton denied failing to pay duty of £144,570 but was found guilty at Cardiff Crown Court. Stretton, originally of Cardiff, but now living in Hereford, was freed on bail but warned she could be jailed when she is sentenced later this month.