Counterfeit tobacco and cigarettes seized in Telford

Counterfeit tobacco pouches and packets of cigarettes worth around £15,000 have been seized from a number of shops in Telford.

The illegal tobacco was confiscated by Telford & Wrekin Council’s Trading Standard's officers who conducted joint and unannounced visits with Rural and Business Crime officers from Telford Police Station on Tuesday evening.

Six shops were visited following intelligence gathered by West Mercia Police and Telford and Wrekin Council’s trading standards teams.

Deputy Leader and cabinet Member for Enforcement, Community Safety and Customer Services, Councillor Richard Overton said:

“We are pleased with the success of this exercise and the partnership approach we have taken working closely with West Mercia Police.

“While the full value is being assessed, we estimate the illegal tobacco seized - a mixture of loose leaf pouches and cigarettes - to be in the region of £15,000.

“The areas raided were based on intelligence gathered by West Mercia Police and our trading standards team and took place at six locations across the borough, currently no arrests have been made.

“We will continue to carry out exercises such as this to protect, care and invest in the borough and show that we are always on the side of people who play by the rules.”

Sergeant Dougal Bellsaid: “We visited a number of shops in Telford following reports of counterfeitand illicit tobacco being sold.

“Operations like this prove that working closely with our partners we are able to prevent criminal enterprises from continuing their distribution of illegal products such as tobacco and alcohol. A significant amount of counterfeit tobacco was seized by our colleagues from Telford & Wrekin Council."