AN investigation is under way after customs officials seized a mixed consignment of drugs and contraband cigarettes.
About ten kilos of herbal cannabis and 40,000 cigarettes were found at Teesport, concealed in a container from West Africa. It is thought the haul was in transit and not destined for the North-East.
The cannabis has a street value of £33,500 and the revenue lost on the cigarettes amounted to £4,000. Both were hidden in a cargo of soft drinks which had come off a ship from Nigeria.
Customs spokesman John Barber said: "There is increasing evidence that criminals are smuggling and distributing both drugs and excise goods through the same networks.
"People need to realise that these hoodlums are out only for profit and the commodity they sell doesn't matter to them."
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