Thousands of smuggled cigarettes have been seized during a series of raids on shops and homes in Medway.

Officers from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) carried out the raids in Chatham and Gillingham, and seized 363,620 cigarettes, 153.9 kilos of hand rolling tobacco and 80.9 litres of spirits, an amount of wine and beer were also confiscated.

In total 30 shops and 11 homes were raided to clamp down on the illicit tobacco trade, in a joint operation on October 19 and 20 by HMRC and Kent Police and trading standards officers.

The revenue loss on the seized excise goods is around £135,000, no arrests have been made yet, but investigations are on going.

Many of the cigarette brands seized are known as cheap whites and are effectively made purely for smuggling and often obtained in large quantities by organised crime gangs who smuggle them into the UK.

They are then sold illegally near homes, in pubs and clubs and some small independent shops.

Counterfeit alcohol is sometimes found in shops which has come from the backs of vehicles across the country, often made in illegal factories in the UK.

It is also smuggled from industrial scale production in Europe.

A number of stores in the Towns, may now lose their alcohol licences as a result of the raids, but their locations have not been disclosed.

Bob Gainger, from HMRC, said: "Alcohol and tobacco fraud harms honest businesses, costs jobs, and takes money away from public services. We are keen to work closely with local residents and communities in the fight against this type of crime.

"Tobacco smugglers alone drain over £2 billion in revenue from the public purse each year. This type of fraud is a problem which we are determined to crack."

• People are being urged to help in the fight against this sort of crime, if you know where illegal cigarettes or alcohol is being sold, crime and are call the Customs Hotline on 0800 595000 or email customs.hotline@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk