TWO men have been jailed for storing nearly three million smuggled cigarettes in a barn in a Basingstoke village.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) investigators discovered Dariusz Kochanek, 29, from Basingstoke and Ireneusz Kosowski, 42, from New Malden with 2,780,460 non-UK duty paid cigarettes, which were being kept in a barn in Ash Lane, Bramley.

HMRC officers had watched a van that was parked in a public car park in the village on June 18, 2014, before Kochanek got behind the wheel and drove the van to the barn.

Investigators followed the van and raided the barn, where they found Kosowski and two shipping containers full of Mayfair and L&M branded cigarettes.

Assistant director of the fraud investigation service at HMRC, David Margree said: “The men thought they were under our radar and could get away with smuggling and storing vast quantities of illegal tobacco.

“They are now paying the price for their criminal actions.

“Tobacco smuggling robs communities of vital public funds and harms the livelihood of legitimate retailers.

“We encourage anyone with information regarding the smuggling, storage or sale of illegal tobacco to contact the customs hotline on 0800 59 5000.”

Kochanek and Kosowski were arrested and charged with tobacco harbouring offences under the customs and excise management act 1979.

 Both men were found guilty at Winchester Crown Court on May 17 and sentenced the same day to three years and six months imprisonment. A third man was found not guilty.