Huge haul of illegal tobacco, vapes, counterfeit wine seized from Sandwell stores

A huge haul of illegal tobacco, vapes and counterfeit wine has been seized in Sandwell during a series of raids by trading standards, Sandwell Council reported on Thursday (24).

Sandwell Council Trading Standards working alongside Licensing, Police and West Midlands Fire Service continue to seize illegal and dangerous articles around Sandwell.

On day one, the team visited three businesses in Sandwell and seized 3,782 packets of illegal cigarettes, 121 pouches of hand rolling tobacco and 599 illegal vapes in a joint operation. The items had a combined value of £46,835.

As part of a separate operation as part of Sandwell Council’s Safer 6 campaign, the teams carried out enforcement visits to four shops in Tipton. This resulted in seizures of 574 non-compliant vaping devices, 10 bottles of counterfeit wine and 50 packets of illegal tobacco with a retail value worth in excess £6,000.

Sandwell Council's trading standards worked alongside its licensing team alongside West Midlands Police and West Midlands Fire Service.

Sandwell Council’s cabinet member for communities, Councillor Danny Millard, said: "These two operations show how seriously we take the issue of dangerous and illegal products throughout Sandwell. Anyone trading in these articles should be on warning that we will continue to track them down and take any actions necessary.”

It comes a month after a Smethwick shop owner, accused of stockpiling more than 750,000 illegal cigarettes and tobacco with a retail value of more than £300,000, was jailed for 30 months at Coventry Crown Court.

Mansour Muhammed Omar who previously owned UK Mini Market, and KNN Mini Market, both in Smethwick, was imprisoned after Trading Standards caught him with the large quantity of illegal tobacco at his then Quinton, Birmingham home, and in a van parked outside the property.

He was found guilty of nine charges under the Trade Marks Act 1994, and The Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016.

He had previously pleaded guilty to a further similar 12 charges relating to the illegal tobacco found at his two shop premises.