Illicit tobacco trade named as most prevalent crime in Bolton

Illegal tobacco trade has been named as one the most serious and prevalent crimes affecting Bolton - outstripping trade in hard drugs.

According to local reports, the trade in illegal tobacco has now become one of the borough’s most pressing priorities. A recent meeting of the council heard how the trade has become a mainstay for criminal gangs, affects communities all across the borough, and is now the area of highest demand for the authority’s trading standards department.

Figures show that in Bolton, more than 470,000 illegal cigarettes and 74kg of hand rolling tobacco have been seized since October 2021, along with more than 2,000 cannisters of nitrous oxide and 13 cars used to store illegal goods.

The Place Scrutiny Committee heard that illicit tobacco trading is often linked to other serious organised crimes carried out by large organisations including people smuggling, money laundering and trafficking in drugs like heroin and cocaine.

Much of this is controlled by criminal organisations, far above street level, who then sell the illegal products on to smaller shops.

With increasing the price of tobacco proven to reduce smoking, the availability of cheap illegal alternatives across many communities in Bolton, particularly those in more deprived areas, makes this process more difficult.

Director of Place at the council, Jon Dyson, said, “As part of the scrutiny programme last year we spoke about the every-growing prevalence of illicit tobacco in, the criminal gangs or criminal network that often facilitate illicit tobacco sales and the significant impact that this can have on the health and wellbeing of our residents.”

Dyson claimed to have read research that four times as many people die from illicit tobacco than all other illegal drugs combined which he said gave a "flavour of the harm" brought about by the trade.