£65,000 haul of illegal vapes, cigarettes and banned American sweets seized in raids at Staffordshire shops
Banned food items, illegal vapes and illicit cigarettes worth an estimated total of more than £65,000 have been seized during raids at four Staffordshire shops.
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Specially trained dogs helped to uncover tobacco hidden inside the stairs during one of the searches, which were carried out at stores in Lichfield and Burntwood on Monday.
The raids saw Trading Standards officers at Staffordshire County Council seize more than 2,850 illegal or oversized vapes, 42,600 cigarettes, 17 kg of hand rolling tobacco and 463 illegal food items, including American sweets and drinks.
Victoria Wilson, cabinet member responsible for Trading Standards at Staffordshire County Council, said: "Our officers continue to tackle the sale of illicit and illegal products and this was a significant seizure.
"The supply of illegal goods is closely linked to organised crime and helps fund their operations. The items can also be dangerous to people’s health and affect legitimate traders, so taking them off the market is a real result."
The raids were carried out with the help of Staffordshire Police, Home Office Immigration and Lichfield District Council’s Environmental Health team.
Lichfield District Council cabinet member, Councillor Alex Farrell, said: “Our officers have participated in executing a series of successful raids across the Lichfield District seizing illegal products which would have been sold for thousands of pounds.
“The protection of the district’s residents is our priority and this operation is a stark warning to perpetrators that this criminality will not be tolerated.”
The seizures came as part of Operation CeCe and Operation Joseph, both national initiatives to tackle the sale of illicit tobacco and illegal vapes respectively.
Lord Michael Bichard, National Trading Standards chair, added: "The trade in illegal tobacco harms local communities and affects honest businesses operating within the law.
"Having removed 46 million illegal cigarettes, 12,600kg of hand rolling tobacco and almost 175kg of shisha products from sale, Operation CeCe, the National Trading Standards initiative in partnership with HMRC continues to successfully disrupt this illicit trade."
People can report the sale of illegal goods online by visiting staffordshire.gov.uk/Business/Tradingstandards/Trading-Standards-Report-It.aspx or by calling Trading Standards on the confidential helpline at 01785330356.
