Undercover test purchasingconducted by Japan Tobacco International (JTI) in Bradford has shone a light on the scale of illicit tobacco and vape sales in the area.
Operatives carried out 50 test purchases across Bradford in October 2024, with all stores visited found to be selling counterfeit and contraband tobacco products, as well as disposable vapes whose puff-count related to a capacity well above the 2ml limit.
A trap door was used in one shop to keep the illegal products hidden until requested. In another location, illegal tobacco items were stored in the boot of a car outside and only retrieved when a customer asked to purchase. Counterfeit £5 notes were also given as change in two of the retail premises.
One of the most common illicit products available was a counterfeit 50g pouch of roll-your-own (RYO) tobacco – these were widely sold for just £3.50. For comparison, the recommended retail price of JTI’s lowest price 50g RYO product is £31.25*. In fact, over half (54 per cent) of the RYO market is now made up of illegal and other non-duty paid sources.
The cheapest ready-made cigarettes (RMC) were available from as little as £3. A number of illegal vapes were also easily obtainable, with puff rates as high as 15,000, available for £15.
All evidence and information gathered will be made available to Trading Standards in anticipation that it will support their efforts to enforce and prosecute anyone found to be selling illegal products.
Already, JTI UK has helped prevent one of the stores identified in the test purchasing – Mix Mini Market on Gaythorne Road – from obtaining a premises licence when it presented its findings to the Bradford District Licensing Panel on 28 November 2024.
Ian Howell
www.asiantrader.biz
"Our test purchasing operation in Bradford found it to be one of the worst places in the UK for illicit tobacco sales," said Ian Howell, Public Affairs Manager at JTI UK. “It has become all too easy for the residents of Bradford to purchase illicit tobacco or vapes in various locations across the city. The scale of the illegal activity here is just a microcosm of the bigger issue across the UK.
“From the honest retailers’ perspective, they are not only losing out on tobacco sales, but they are also seeing wider basket spend decline with customers instead visiting illegitimate stores. On a wider level, UK taxpayers are losing out on millions in taxes from legal tobacco sales which might otherwise be used to benefit communities, with illicit profits instead filling the pockets of criminals.
“You simply can’t ignore the numbers – the evidence we have compiled this past year through test purchasing operations demonstrates the size of the problem we are facing. The Government urgently needs to acknowledge this issue and make tackling illicit tobacco a priority, rather than implementing a generational smoking ban that will only exacerbate the black market.”
If retailers know of a store that is selling illicit tobacco or vapes, they should report them by calling Trading Standards through the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 0808 223 1133 or contact HM Revenue & Customs’ Fraud Hotline (0800 788 887), or Crimestoppers (0800 555 111).
*Correct at time of test purchasing operation.
