Thousands of suspected smuggled cigarettes have been seized by Customs Officers from a South Tyneside store - as shocked shoppers looked on.
Staff from the Government Agency teamed up with South Tyneside Council's trading standards officers to carry out the raid on 7 July 2009.
12,200 of cigarettes and 400g of hand-rolling tobacco were removed from the shop in Whiteleas Way, South Shields.
Nine bin bags filled with dozens of suspected counterfeit DVDs and CDs were also seized from a nearby property.
A spokesman for HM Revenue & Customs said: "We can confirm that a shop has been visited by Customs and Excise. The operation was a result of information passed on to the agency from a range of sources. This was a good result."
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