LONDON: Raids carried out by trading standards officers using highly-trained sniffer dogs uncovered 160,000 cigarettes and 61 kilogrammes of tobacco.
And the true scale of the operation is clear by the amount of cigarettes and tobacco bagged up and put on display here.
The dogs used their keen noses to sniff out the illegal items hidden in secret compartments, such as fake floor boards and shop shelves. In one store, a dog found a stash of ciggies hidden behind a row of crisp packets.
Some of the tobacco products were found to be mouldy and short in weight by as much as 40 per cent.
Officers also found some of the illicit brands failed to comply with safety standards which require a lit cigarette to be able to self-extinguish when not being actively smoked.
Sandwell Council leader and cabinet member for trading standards, Councillor Darren Cooper said: “Illegal cigarettes not only pose a risk to people’s health but those involved in their sale are often linked to other forms of criminal activity.
“I’m delighted to see tobacco detection dogs being put to such great use in sniffing out this significant threat to health”.
Seven traders have so far been successfully prosecuted in the borough, with one forced to pay £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.
Alongside the prosecutions, eight licensing reviews were requested by trading standards officers against shopkeepers for stocking illegal and counterfeit tobacco.
Four premises licences were revoked, one suspended for two weeks and two had stricter conditions imposed.
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