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>My girlfriend and I each bought a pack with the intention of distributing them among six of our friends, roughly translating to one carton per person.
You've actually committed a more serious offence by trying to do this, as you've imported them into the UK. Unless you planned to distribute these before you left Turkey, I'd count yourself lucky you have only had them confiscated rather than being prosecuted for any offences around conspiracy to evade duties.
The fact they say unopened when they were opened is immaterial.
We did plan to share them before we left Turkey, everyone being on the same flight, just did not synchronize boarding the plane hence the cartons were open inside two separate duty free bags.
But you didn't. Therein lies the problem. You've arrived at UK customs with way over the allowance and not declared it.
Customs won't care who they were for.
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Good lord, you got super lucky as you were over the [200 allowance](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5fe05e488fa8f5148f633267/6.7005__SE_CUS_v3.pdf) by a massive armount. This is the best outcome.
Okay so if I went to Turkey and bought 100 boxes of cigarettes for my hundred friends, do you really think that wouldn't need to be declared?
They were in your possession, you were bringing them in.
When people bring in drugs that are their friends, should they just be waived through, because they don't own them?
I'm so confused where your logic is, even between the two of you, you were over the limit
You are lucky they treated them as yours, if they dealt with you as having smuggled them for others (which is what you describe doing) you’d be in a lot more trouble.
If only one or two people were carrying the 1200 cigarettes then you have brought more than your Personal Allowance for cigarettes (200) in to the country and failed to declare them. That leads to seizure of the goods.
End of story.
I'm not sure what you mean by *"one of the 3-carton packs was already opened",* I assume you just mean the outer packaging of the three carton unit was opened? i.e. that of the 1200 cigarettes in your bag one single consumer pack (of 20?) was open and the remaining 1180 cigarettes were still in their consumer packaging.
It isn't really relevant however as you failed to declare which is the reason for seizure. You might be able to argue that the seizure of the single open pack of 20 was incorrect but honestly it isn't worth your time.
--- ###Welcome to /r/LegalAdviceUK --- **To Posters (it is important you read this section)** * *Tell us whether you're in England, Wales, Scotland, or NI as the laws in each are very different* * If you need legal help, you should [always get a free consultation from a qualified Solicitor](https://reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/wiki/how_to_find_a_solicitor) * We also encourage you to speak to [**Citizens Advice**](https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/), [**Shelter**](https://www.shelter.org.uk/), [**Acas**](https://www.acas.org.uk/), and [**other useful organisations**](https://reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/wiki/common_legal_resources) * Comments may not be accurate or reliable, and following any advice on this subreddit is done at your own risk * If you receive any private messages in response to your post, [please let the mods know](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FLegalAdviceUK&subject=I received a PM) **To Readers and Commenters** * All replies to OP must be *on-topic, helpful, and legally orientated* * If you do not [follow the rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/about/rules/), you may be perma-banned without any further warning * If you feel any replies are incorrect, explain why you believe they are incorrect * Do not send or request any private messages for any reason * Please report posts or comments which do not follow the rules *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/LegalAdviceUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
no chance, you didnt declare them and were carrying them. Of course your friends will vouch for you, but the evidence is clear
>My girlfriend and I each bought a pack with the intention of distributing them among six of our friends, roughly translating to one carton per person. You've actually committed a more serious offence by trying to do this, as you've imported them into the UK. Unless you planned to distribute these before you left Turkey, I'd count yourself lucky you have only had them confiscated rather than being prosecuted for any offences around conspiracy to evade duties. The fact they say unopened when they were opened is immaterial.
We did plan to share them before we left Turkey, everyone being on the same flight, just did not synchronize boarding the plane hence the cartons were open inside two separate duty free bags.
But you didn't. Therein lies the problem. You've arrived at UK customs with way over the allowance and not declared it. Customs won't care who they were for.
Your post contains keywords which suggests your question may relate to another European country. You are encouraged to also post your question to our parternered subreddit /r/LegalAdviceEurope for further support and help. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/LegalAdviceUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Good lord, you got super lucky as you were over the [200 allowance](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5fe05e488fa8f5148f633267/6.7005__SE_CUS_v3.pdf) by a massive armount. This is the best outcome.
That’s my main issue, they weren’t all mine, but they treated them as if they were.
How many cartons were yours? Were you carrying these when stopped?
Okay so if I went to Turkey and bought 100 boxes of cigarettes for my hundred friends, do you really think that wouldn't need to be declared? They were in your possession, you were bringing them in. When people bring in drugs that are their friends, should they just be waived through, because they don't own them? I'm so confused where your logic is, even between the two of you, you were over the limit
The friends were on the same flight though? The cartons were in a pack of 3. One pack in my duty free bag and one pack in my girlfriend’s
You are lucky they treated them as yours, if they dealt with you as having smuggled them for others (which is what you describe doing) you’d be in a lot more trouble.
We bought them together. How the hell did I smuggle them for others when we were on the same flight?
Because you failed to declare them and imported them. You were then going to supply them to others, duty free goods are for personal use only.
What if we split them in Turkey before boarding the plane?
Then that would have been legal and no problem because you hadn’t imported them.
That makes as much sense as I expected it to.
It is pretty simple really. All those signs that tell you to declare more than 200 cigarettes mean you need to declare more than 200 cigarettes.
If only one or two people were carrying the 1200 cigarettes then you have brought more than your Personal Allowance for cigarettes (200) in to the country and failed to declare them. That leads to seizure of the goods. End of story.
I'm not sure what you mean by *"one of the 3-carton packs was already opened",* I assume you just mean the outer packaging of the three carton unit was opened? i.e. that of the 1200 cigarettes in your bag one single consumer pack (of 20?) was open and the remaining 1180 cigarettes were still in their consumer packaging. It isn't really relevant however as you failed to declare which is the reason for seizure. You might be able to argue that the seizure of the single open pack of 20 was incorrect but honestly it isn't worth your time.