LONDON: Officers from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), Greater Manchester Police and the Home Office raided 11 retail premises and storage units on Wednesday.
Officials seized 53,340 cigarettes, 63.1kgs of hand-rolling tobacco and 1.5kgs of shisha and 223.7 litres of spirits.
HMRC said the haul meant the taxman had missed out on more than £30,000 in duty.
A Vauxhall Vivaro van, which was being used to store excise goods, was also seized.
Bosses hailed the results of the operation and said they had put a dent in the lives of criminals living off the sale of illegal products.
Det Insp Chris Mossop, of Bolton police, said: “In Bolton we have been disrupting organised crime groups at all levels and have achieved some excellent results by working closely with a host of partner agencies.
“These warrants are a joint response by GMP and HMRC to target the organised crime groups that are illegally selling tobacco to fund their lives of crime.
“We want to satisfy ourselves, and the communities of Bolton, that illegal products are not being sold in our communities.”
The investigation came about as part of HMRC’s crackdown with the police and the Home Office on illicit tobacco and alcohol.
Sandra Smith, assistant director of criminal investigation at HMRC, said: “The sale of illegal tobacco and alcohol will not be tolerated by us or our partner agencies.
“Disrupting criminal trade is at the heart of our strategy to clampdown on the illicit tobacco market, which costs the UK around £2.1 billion a year, and the sale of illicit alcohol which costs the UK around £1 billion per year.
