More than a million fake cigarettes are seized across the West Midlands

A total of 30,532 counterfeit or duty free cigarettes and 5kg of tobacco were found using sniffer dogs in illegal tobacco hotspots in Wolverhampton in October. The dogs managed to help uncover cigarettes stored in some unusual places, including hidden underneath a shelving unit that had a concealed area secured by a powerful electro magnet.

In December, shops in the Whitmore Reans area of the city were raided where police uncovered more than 100 packets of cigarettes buried beneath fruit and vegetables at one store.

Trading standards officers said the tobacco is 'highly likely' to have been illegally imported and may be fake. A further search of the premises unearthed more than 3kg of illicit snuff packed into transparent bags and concealed under a pile of onions at the front of the store.

MPs are set to vote in the coming weeks on whether to introduce plain packaging for cigarettes in England.

Ministers have consulted on the move for more than two years and intends to press ahead with a vote before the General Election.

As many as 100 Conservative MPs could rebel against the Government against the legislation which is expected to be passed with the help of Labour and Liberal Democrats.

Public Health Minister Jane Ellison said the move was likely to have a positive impact on public health, particularly for children. And doctors say the move would save thousands of lives.

It follows the introduction on plain packaging in Australia in 2012.

But the tobacco industry is against the move, which if passed could be law by May 2016, saying it will fuel the black market and impact on consumer choice.

A JTI spokesman said: "Plain packaging will allow new opportunities for criminals to provide counterfeit products (plain or branded), as well as to sell illicit whites and smuggled genuine products. Fuelling the illegal trade normalises criminality and shifts jobs from legitimate UK manufacturers to organised crime groups, which costs the UK taxpayer and public sector millions in lost revenue.

"Plain packs would be cheaper and easier to fake than branded ones and would make it more difficult to identify counterfeit product."

A review of the public health implications of standardised packaging last year by Sir Cyril Chantler concluded it was very likely their introduction would lead to a modest but important reduction in the uptake and prevalence of smoking.

Professor Dame Sally Davies, chief medical officer for England, said: "We need to keep up our efforts on tobacco control and standardised packaging is an important part of that," she said.

More than 4kg of duty free herbal shisha was also seized from the shop.

A raid on another shop in the same area found the owner had been selling alcohol for two years without a licence.

In Sandwell, sniffer dogs detected counterfeit and smuggled tobacco worth more than £40,000 in a crackdown in September.

Buster, a collie, and Bertie, a collie-cross, were drafted in to help Trading Standards officers uncover hidden stashes at six premises across Sandwell.

The haul included approximately 63,400 cigarettes, 130 packets of tobacco and 25kg of shisha tobacco.

The operation was part of a crackdown on illicit and counterfeit tobacco across nine regions in England.

The dogs were drafted in after funding was provided by the Department of Health.

And in January this year, more than a million suspected illicit cigarettes were seized during an operation across Sandwell and Birmingham in an attempt to disrupt the sale and supply of illegal tobacco.

Shops and self-storage units were visited in the operation by HM Revenue and Customs in Wednesbury, Smethwick and Birmingham, with seizures of stock from 11 of 22 shops.

The haul totalled around £260,000 in unpaid duty and VAT.

The operation took place across January 21 and 22. More than 297,000 cigarettes alone were found at a storage facility in Wednesbury.

Cash totalling £12,000 and 23kg of tobacco were also found.

HMRC officers were supported by Birmingham City Council's Trading Standards team and Border Force.