BIRMINGHAM: More than 61,000 illegal cigarettes worth more than £29,000 were seized during a raid on eight shops across a Black Country town.
The raids were the latest co-ordinated crackdown against the illegal cigarette trade which has brought thousands of pounds in seizures in recent weeks.
Shops in West Bromwich were targeted by the crackdown involving trading standards officials and police from the borough.
Sniffer dogs Scamp and Yoyo helped discover the haul of illicit tobacco products inside the shops – including discovering a lock up inside one store.
Of the eight shops they visited, four were caught selling illegal tobacco totalling around 61,600 cigarettes and 76 pouches of hand-rolling tobacco valued at more than £29,000.
In one shop officials said a haul of illegal tobacco was being kept behind a ‘sophisticated steel door’ forcing them to call in a locksmith to get it open.
All the offending traders are now subject to a formal investigation with the risk of facing a criminal prosecution.
The traders could face a penalty of up to an unlimited fine or 10 years’ imprisonment.
In addition, licensed premises face the risk of losing their alcohol licence.
Immigration officers also joined in with the day of action which took place on November 14.
Bob Charnley, Sandwell’s trading standards and licensing manager, said the action showed authorities were keen to clamp down on the practice.
“The sale of illegal tobacco is a serious criminal offence and we will take action where we can, to clampdown on this illegal practice in order to protect people and the vast majority of our law-abiding local businesses,” he said.
Sandwell Council’s leader, Councillor Darren Cooper, welcomed the seizures and vowed to continue working with police officers in the future.
“This was a significant haul discovered by our officers working with the police and immigration,” he said.
“Criminal organised gangs are running this and by their very nature they do not care about the human or economic damage they are causing.”
The raid follow a similar crackdown last month in Smethwick.
On that occasion officers found 27,100 cigarettes and 278.5kg of hand-rolling tobacco with a retail value in excess of £22,000 Raids have also led to prosecutions in recent months.
One trader was forced to pay out £6,000 while another was given a 12-week prison sentence suspended for 18 months.
Another was also given a 12-month community order and ordered to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work.
Sniffer dogs have also been out in Stourbridge town centre as trading standards officers from Dudley led an awareness drive against the sale of illegal cigarettes.
People could see the dogs and watch them sniff out hidden tobacco products during demonstrations.
