Around £24,000 worth of illegal cigarettes, tobacco and disposable vapes have been seized from traders across Walsall as part of a crackdown on the illicit tobacco trade.
As informed by Walsall Council on Thursday (23), illegal goods including approximately 22,000 cigarettes, 3kg of illegal hand rolling tobacco, and 400 illegal disposable vapes were found in four of the six shops visited during the operation.
The activity took place on last week and was part of Operation CeCe, a National Trading Standards initiative aimed at tackling illegal tobacco.
Highly trained sniffer dogs were on hand to assist with the operation. Specialising in detecting tobacco and vape products, one of the dogs helped unearth bags of vapes and cigarettes hidden amongst rubbish at the rear of the shop.
In one store, a purpose-built wall concealment was found high up in the storeroom. Illegal goods were also found behind shop counters, on storeroom floors and in bins.
Councillor Garry Perry, Leader of Walsall Council, said, "We carry operations like this out frequently, and traders need to realise we are not going to allow them to sell illegal goods in our borough.
"I want to thank the Trading Standards team, West Midlands Police and of course Billy and Ziggy for their hard work to get these products off our streets.
"Many of these dodgy traders are prepared to sell to children, which is unacceptable and dangerous.
"We have adopted a strong approach to these matters and will use every enforcement technique at our disposal to disrupt this type of activity and keep our residents safe.
“This work is also vital in delivering our Tobacco Control Plan, a key aspect of which focuses on tackling the trade of illicit tobacco and vaping products. “
Lord Michael Bichard, Chair of National Trading Standards, stated, “ The trade in illegal tobacco harms local communities and affects honest businesses operating within the law.
"Having removed 27 million illegal cigarettes, 7,500kg of hand rolling tobacco and almost 175kg of shisha products from sale, the National Trading Standards initiative in partnership with HMRC continues to successfully disrupt this illicit trade."
