SUSPECTED smuggled booze and fags were seized in raids in Bolton.

More than 1million cigarettes and 74 litres of alcohol - all believed to be illicit because duty had not been paid - were confiscated.

Officials from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC), supported by Greater Manchester Police, visited 50 retail premises and 12 storage units, the vast majority of which were in Bolton and the rest in Greater Manchester.

Seizures were made at 29 locations during the action that was codenamed Operation Scary and was carried out on Tuesday and Wednesday.

They found packs of cigarettes in a cubbyhole hidden in a shop wall behind a hinged secret panel.

In Bolton HMRC investigators discovered consignments of cigarettes with Russian packaging.

Superintendent Andrea Jones, of GMP’s Bolton division, said: "We have provided support for these searches to our partners at HMRC and as a result large quantities of tobacco and cigarettes have been seized.

"I hope these searches and subsequent seizures will reassure the communities of Bolton that not only are the police ready to act on intelligence from the public but also our partner agencies.

"I would like to assure everybody that we will continue to work alongside our partners through Operation Challenger Bolton to ensure that criminality of this nature will not go unpunished."

The haul from the visits, which were carried out as part of a crackdown by HMRC's Tobacco

Taskforce, included 1,016,653 cigarettes, 73 kilos of hand-rolling tobacco and 52 kilos of shisha tobacco.

HMRC estimates the amount of duty and VAT evaded is £267,000.

Officials confiscated 74 litres of alcohol on which an estimated £1,900 in duty and VAT was not paid.

Two vehicles used for transporting or storing some of the suspect goods were seized by HMRC and police officers made one arrest for an unrelated offence.

Sandra Smith, assistant director of Fraud Investigation Service at HMRC, said: "The sale of illegal tobacco and alcohol will not be tolerated by us or our partner agencies.

"Disrupting criminal trade is at the heart of our strategy to clampdown on the illicit tobacco market, which costs the UK around £2.1 billion a year, and the sale of illicit alcohol which costs the UK around £1 billion per year. 

"This is theft from the taxpayer and undermines legitimate traders.

"We encourage anyone with information about the illegal sale of tobacco or alcohol to contact the Customs Hotline on 0800 59 5000."

HMRC said it could not reveal which individual shops were raided for legal reasons.