A BLACKBURN man has been jailed for trying to smuggle three million fake cigarettes into the UK disguised as a shipment of Chinese noodles.

Saleem Moosa, an assistant warehouse keeper of Lancaster Road, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to the offence on the first day of his trial in September last year.

And Moosa, 38, has now been sentenced to six months in prison by a judge after admitting the charge of keeping the cigarettes on behalf of others.

The court was told that a container arrived at Southampton Docks in August 2002 from Dubai and was declared as containing instant noodles. But it was X-rayed by suspicious customs officers and was found to contain something else.

Physical examination found that of the 600 cartons marked as Chinese noodles - 500 actually contained Benson & Hedges cigarettes.

Moosa, and two other men, were arrested in September 2002 after Customs and Excise investigators watched them unloading the cargo from the container at an industrial unit in Bolton.

They had allowed the cargo to pass through the port so they could follow the illegal load to its final destination and arrest those behind the smuggling operation.

Following searches of two cars at the premises, a further 4,610 duty-unpaid cigarettes were found and seized along with the two cars.

Chris Harrison, head of customs investigation in the North West, said: "This is an important result in our fight against large-scale cigarette smuggling and we hope the sentence will deter others from getting involved.

"We are particularly pleased to have removed these counterfeit cigarettes from the streets as we do not know what is really contained in these cigarettes sold illegally - nor does the seller.

"Tar and nicotine levels can be far higher that advertised on the packet."

Two other people involved have also been sentenced. Ashif Patel, 29, of Grasmere Street, Bolton, a warehouse keeper, was jailed for two-and-a-half years. John O'Donnell, 51, of Crostons Road, Bury, was given 200 hours community service and ordered to pay £500 costs.

A further 20,240 cigarettes had been found at his home.