A raid on a Blackburn newsagents shop by trading standards officers and police discovered hundreds of illegal cigarettes and dozens hidden in its back room. The operation using a specially trained sniffer dog visited two premises.
In one the Blackburn with Darwen Council trading standards officers and police found: 1,300 cigarettes which were seized for non-duty paid, counterfeit and non-standardised labelling requirements, 700 grams of counterfeit tobacco and 56 illicit vapes above the legal tank value of 2millilitres which were equivalent to more than 20 cigarettes which had not been through the approval process by the MHRA which assesses.
The contraband items were found in two separate concealments in the back rooms of the newsagents that were not obvious and had to be found through thorough searching with the sniffer dogs. This raid was a disruption operation, so with regards to the vapes the team asked them to surrender the product and the business will now receive a warning letter.
In relation to the tobacco and cigarettes, a referral has been made to the His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs track and trace team who will process it. The owner is at risk of a £2,500 fine for a first offence.
This is a new tool the council is using to seize more illicit product and deal with it much more efficiently. This shop will be checked again on future operations.
The haul of illegal tobacco
Rachel Wilcock, senior trading standards officer at Blackburn with Darwen said: “Our public protection team take the sale and supply of illicit tobacco products seriously and will use every tool at our disposal to deal with it. The government are continuously developing new strategies and tools to help us deal with these matters more efficiently, to allow us to tackle more offenders.
“Tools available to us include seizure and surrender of products, referral to the HMRC track and trace penalty process, application for closure orders, and prosecution. In future we will also be able to issue fixed penalty notices to businesses who do not comply with various pieces of legislation.
“We ask businesses in Blackburn with Darwen to always trade fairly and legally and source their stock from legitimate, well-known suppliers. If they have any queries with regards to the legality of any products that they intend to stock, we can advise businesses for free on this matter.
“Should consumers become aware of illicit products being made available in our borough, they can report it online at: https://keep-it-out.co.uk, or call Citizens advice for free on 0808 223 1133.”
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