HM Revenue and Customs said coordinated action by authorities has halved the volume of illicit cigarettes and cut the amount of untaxed hand-rolling tobaccos by one third, the Guardian said.

A crackdown of enforcement bodies between April and September of last year resulted in seizures of more than 600 million illicit cigarettes and 137 tonnes of rolling tobacco, according to a story on the newspaper’s website. Nearly 200 people were prosecuted, of which 100 were convicted of tobacco excise tax fraud, the Guardian said.