Damian Rapacki, 36, Michal Zynda, 40, and Marek Nadzieja, 31, ran the supply-chain operation from a warehouse in Glasgow and a storage unit in Hamilton.

During a 17-month period, they imported in excess of 100 million fake cigarettes and counterfeit, hand rolled tobacco in 26 deliveries from European suppliers – the equivalent of five million packets.

Evidence gathered by prosecutors from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) showed they knowingly participated in a large-scale operation to import, store and distribute their illicit goods.

The goods had an estimated street value of £25million.

During the period of offending, the three-man gang benefited personally from receiving approximately £2.3 million from the sale of the counterfeit cigarettes and tobacco. 

They were sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh after pleading guilty to being involved in serious organised crime between June 2019 and November 2020.

Rapacki, of Airdrie, Lanarkshire, was jailed for six years and nine months.

Zynda, of Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, was imprisoned for five years and 11 months, while Nadzieja, of Wishaw, Lanarkshire, was sentenced to four years and three months in jail.

Prosecutor Sineidin Corrins said: “Counterfeit goods of any type undermine legitimate businesses and steal tax revenue from the public purse. Illegal tobacco sales are also often linked to wider criminal activity.

“Illicit tobacco products of this type can also contain any number of substances of which the purchaser is unaware. This makes them even more hazardous to health than legally purchased cigarettes.

“These three men have now been brought to account for their crimes. We will continue to do everything in our power to ensure legitimate businesses are safeguarded and will always consider legal proceedings when it is in the public interest to do so.”