Man fined for illegal imports

A 53 YEAR-old man from Kuwait has been fined £200 with £70 costs after customs officers caught him attempting to import prohibited foodstuffs at Heathrow Airport.


Uxbridge Magistrates Court heard that customs officers at Heathrow stopped Yousef Alothman on Wednesday Aug 4 after he arrived on a flight from Kuwait for a month‘s holiday in the UK.


A search of his baggage revealed approximately 58kg of meat and about 22kg of dairy products.


Kerrie Spendiff, deputy head of customs operations at Heathrow, said: “Customs are determined to crack down on those who attempt to smuggle illegal foodstuffs and will prosecute the worst offenders who insist on breaking the rules.”


In sentencing Mr Alothman, magistrates took into consideration the circumstances surrounding the illegal importation and his early guilty plea but also acknowledged the seriousness of the offence and the consequences of potentially infected foodstuffs entering the UK.


In the period from April 1 to December 31 last year, a total of 9571 seizures of foodstuffs were made by HM Customs and Excise, with a total weight of 119,278kg.


The breakdown in kinds of foods was as follows: Meat 55,548kg, fish 41,768kg, dairy products 20,004kg and honey 1,958kg.

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