Two Ryanair employees have been arrested in Britain on suspicion of smuggling thousands of cigarettes through customs at Liverpool airport on Monday.
Border Force officers seized around 13,800 cigarettes which were concealed in luggage allegedly belonging to Gemma Phillips (26) and Adam McEvatt (28), who work for Ryanair but were off duty at the time.
Ms Phillips, from Huyton in Merseyside, and Mr McEvatt, from Speke, had arrived in Liverpool on a flight from the Canary Islands. They were arrested on Tuesday and charged with evasion of excise duty amounting to approximately £6,000 (€7,600).
The pair have been released on bail until 17th September, when they will appear before Manchester Magistrates Court.
New laws introduced in the United Kingdom in October last year restrict people travelling from within the EU to 800 cigarettes per person. Duty must be paid on any additional amount.
A spokesman for Ryanair said: “As this alleged incident is the subject of a criminal investigation, we are not in a position to comment, other than to note that the individuals in question were off duty at the time of these alleged offences.”
