More than £190,000 worth of illegal tobacco seized in Staffordshire raids
Hundreds of thousands of illegal cigarettes have been seized in raids across Staffordshire.
Council trading standards officers have visited 24 premises and seized around 320,000 cigarettes with a retail value of almost £165,000 with the help of sniffer dogs.
Meanwhile more than 83kg of hand-rolling tobacco with a retail value of over £26,000 has been seized across the country within the last 12 months.
The seizures come as part of Operation CeCe's UK-wide clamp down, with the move seeing around £7m in illegal tobacco being recovered nationally.
Councillor Victoria Wilson, cabinet member with responsibility for trading standards at Staffordshire County Council, said: "The sale of counterfeit and illicit tobacco is a crime which damages local communities and we’re pleased with last year’s success.
"The supply of illegal tobacco in Staffordshire is no greater than anywhere else but does present a significant problem. In the UK it is estimated that about 1 in 10 of all cigarettes and half of all hand rolling tobacco are not duty paid. The illegal trade in tobacco also has strong links to organised crime and illicit tobacco can have a devastating effect on people’s health.
"Our trading standards officers work with a range of partner agencies to ensure that when they receive information about the sale of illicit tobacco, they are able to take a co-ordinated response to ensure those responsible for supplying it are dealt with swiftly and effectively. We do rely on information from the public, so I would urge people to get in touch with the service."
Anyone with information about the sale of counterfeit tobacco and cigarettes in Staffordshire should call the Fight the Fakes hotline on 01785 330356 or visit
staffordshire.gov.uk/fakes.
People can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously at www.crimestoppers-uk.org.uk or call 0800 555 111.
