TWO men responsible for one of the biggest hauls of smuggled cigarettes ever in the North-East have been ordered to pay £400,000 from the proceeds of their crime.

Carlo Citrone, a gym owner and professional poker player, and haulage boss William Howard were found guilty by a jury earlier this year of evading excise duty.

The trial of the two men, both business associates, heard how customs officials began surveillance after they discovered a consignment of 2.6 million cigarettes from Cambodia, which had been smuggled into the UK at Southampton docks.

The consignment was tracked to Howard's warehouse on an industrial estate in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, and both men were arrested.

Citrone, of Warren Lea, Springwell Village, Gates-head, who was behind the smuggling operation, was jailed for two years.

Howard, who helped transport the cigarettes to the North-East, was jailed for a year. Yesterday, Judge George Moorhouse, who presided over the trial, said the criminal benefits from the operation amounted to £413,587 in unpaid excise duty.

Following a confiscation hearing, he said Citrone should pay £370,000 by September 2007.

Howard, of Northside Close, Middridge, County Durham, was told to pay £30,000 by next December.