Illegal fuel seized in Down and Antrim

Customs officers have seized 11 commercial vehicles and nearly 20,000 litres of illegal fuel in Counties Down and Antrim.

The Customs operation involving specialist road fuel officers followed the discovery of three commercial vehicles using contaminated fuel during roadside checks on Tuesday.

Follow-up searches on Tuesday and Wednesday uncovered 16,000 litres of contaminated diesel at the premises of a skip hire company in the North Down area and a further eight vehicles using illegal fuel were seized. As searches continued, a further 3,400 litres of smuggled diesel were seized from commercial premises in the Ballymena area.

Customs’ Head of Anti-smuggling Northern Ireland Colin McAllister said: “This Customs/PSNI operation shows the benefit of multi-agency working, as part of the Organised Crime Task Force, in tackling fuel cheats who create an unfair market where legitimate businesses find it increasingly difficult to compete.

“Illegal fuel - whether used commercially or privately - undermines honest fillings stations, steals cash meant for hospitals and schools and damages vehicle engines.

“Enquiries are ongoing into the illegal fuel use detected. It is no longer the case that using illegal fuel is worth the risk. All companies who had commercial vehicles detected will face audit and could be liable to heavier fines in respect of previous misuse."

Anyone with information on such activity is asked to call Customs on 0800 59 5000.

(MB)