Detection dogs sniff out thousands of illicit cigarettes and illegal vapes in Staffordshire
Detection dogs helped to sniff out illicit tobacco and illegal vapes worth almost £13,000 during three raids.
They were carried out at premises in Stafford and Stone on Tuesday and resulted in the seizure of 16,088 illicit cigarettes, 7.4 kg of hand rolling tobacco and 186 illegal oversized vapes.
Working with Staffordshire County Council’s trading standards team, fox red Labrador, Cooper; Bran, a working cocker spaniel and Griff, an English springer spaniel, were involved in the operation.
They helped find the stashes hidden in sophisticated hiding places in the premises and some in the bins at the rear of one of the shops.
Trading standards officers were also supported by Staffordshire Police and the immigration compliance and enforcement team in the raids, which were part of Operation CeCe, a national initiative in partnership with HM Revenue & Customs to tackle the supply and sale of illegal tobacco.
Victoria Wilson, cabinet member responsible for trading standards at Staffordshire County Council, said: “Removing illegal tobacco and vapes from the marketplace is a priority for our trading standards service and this was yet another successful operation.
“Shops selling these products will do anything to keep their illegal trade hidden from our officers but with the help of sniffer dogs like Cooper, there’s no hiding place.
“Over the last few years, we’ve also seen a steady increase in the availability of illegal vapes and the sale of them to young people, which is a worrying trend.
"Most of the seized vapes are oversized and offer up to 9,000 puffs when the legal limit is only 600.
“Anyone with information about the sale of illicit tobacco, illegal vapes, or counterfeit goods should call our Fight the Fakes hotline on 01785 330356.”
Specialist dog handler, Stuart Philips, from BWY Canine, said: “I’ve been working closely with the trading standards team for many years now and we’ve had a lot of success in taking illegal products off the market.
“Sellers will try all sorts of tricks and distraction techniques to put dogs off, including using garlic and bleach, but it doesn't work.
“Cooper, Griff and Bran are vital in tackling the illegal tobacco trade.
"They are essential for the operations as they are the only way to locate sophisticated methods of concealment.
"We shall continue to help Staffordshire trading standards with their multi-agency approach operations.”
Lord Michael Bichard, chair of national trading standards, said: “The trade in illegal tobacco harms local communities and affects honest businesses operating within the law.
"Having removed 21 million illegal cigarettes, 5,800kg of hand rolling tobacco and almost 175kg of shisha products from sale, the national trading standards initiative in partnership with HM Revenue & Customs continues to successfully disrupt this illicit trade.”
In 2022/2023 in Staffordshire, trading standards seized over one million illicit cigarettes worth around £515,000 and 116.34kg of hand rolling tobacco worth almost £35,000.
In the same period the team seized almost 10,000 illegal vapes worth over £128,000.
So far this year alone, they have already seized almost 9,000.
Tackling the sale of Illegal and oversized vapes remains a growing challenge for the team.
