Around 23k illegal cigarettes seized from shops in Walsall crackdown
Some 23,000 illegal cigarettes were seized from two shops.
Walsall Trading Standards officers, West Midlands Police and a highly-trained tobacco detector dog named Scamp seized the cigarettes following intelligence that illegal tobacco was being sold from them.
Officers raided the stores on Wednesday and 15,300 cigarettes were discovered after officers removed a light fitting in the ceiling at the first while 8,000 cigarettes were found behind the serving counter at the second.
Scamp sprang to action in both the stores and helped to locate them by barking.
Councillor Garry Perry, from Walsall Council said: “Well done Scamp and well done to all the Trading Standards and Police officers involved.
"Illegal tobacco is a scourge to our town and to society. As well as undermining law abiding businesses with cheap cigarettes, it’s often smuggled in to the country by organised crime gangs and is unregulated.
"Profits from it fund other criminal activities like human trafficking and drug smuggling. We want drive it out of the borough and shared intelligence from the public helps us get the evidence we need to get these people into court and out of Walsall.”
To report the sale of illegal tobacco, call 03454 040506 or email tradingstandards@walsall.gov.uk
