Police raided a house and a retail premises in Stoke-on-Trent as part of a national operation into a multi-million pound fuel fraud.
More than 50 HMRC officers swooped on properties in the city, as well as Crewe, Manchester, Surrey, Gloucestershire, Devon and Northern Ireland during the raids on Thursday September 13.
Three men, including a 31-year-old in Crewe, have been arrested and since released pending further enquiries following the raids, which targeted a total of nine businesses and four residential addresses.
HMRC suspected fuel laundering plant was dismantled in south Armagh in Northern Ireland and 22,500 litres of fuel seized, along with specialised equipment suspected of being used in the laundering process.
The suspected laundering plant had the capacity to produce 20 million litres of illicit fuel a year, potentially evading £11 million in revenue.
HMRC also seized 3,100 litres of marked gas oil, 350 litres of Kerosene, 12,700 litres of lubricant, two box lorries, a caddy van and a forklift from the site.
A further 6,500 litres of suspected laundered fuel was recovered from a retail site in Greater Belfast.
As well as the man in Crewe, the other two men arrested were a 37-year-old in Surrey and a 31-year-old in Belfast.
Tracey Noon, Assistant Director, Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC, said:“The illicit trade in laundered fuel is a serious crime and one we are determined to detect and disrupt.
“We remain alert to the often dangerous methods and efforts of criminals to remove the government markers from rebated fuel.
“Given that laundering plants have been found adjacent to homes and retail sites we would urge anyone with information about this dangerous activity to report it to HMRC online or contact our Fraud Hotline on 0800 788 887.”
Laundered fuel is red (or green) diesel, which has historically been filtered through chemicals or acids to remove the Government marker(s). The chemicals and acids remain in the fuel and damage fuel pumps in diesel cars.
HMRC say figures for 2016-17 estimate that the revenue loss from illicit use of fuel has now fallen to around £150 million in the UK, of which £40m relates to fraud in Northern Ireland.
