Smuggled cigarettes were mailed as shoes

A Chinese woman had nearly 20,000 cigarettes mailed to her in a massive smuggling operation – disguised as shoes.

Xiao Guo, 32, had the cigarettes sent to her home address in Glasgow, but they were intercepted after an anonymous tip-off.

The parcels were sent from Shanghai and described as containing shoes. She was sentenced to 190 hours of unpaid work yesterday. A spokesman for HMRC said: “This case is a great example of how the public can help us tackle those who think it’s acceptable to pocket taxpayers’ money.”