Illegal tobacco worth around £10,000 seized in Telford
Around £10,000 worth of illegal tobacco has been seized in Telford following a joint operation by Telford & Wrekin Council’s trading standards team and West Mercia Police.
The joint operation took place on Wednesday and saw specially trained search dogs accompany council officers and police at six locations across the borough.
Sergeant Dougal Bell from West Mercia Police said:
“We visited six shops in Telford and illicit or counterfeit tobacco was found and seized at three of these premises. We also seized several thousand pounds in cash from the premises, which is suspected to be from the sale of the counterfeit tobacco. We have now launched an investigation.
“Operations like this prove that working closely with our partners, we are able to prevent criminal enterprises from continuing distribution of illegal products such as tobacco and alcohol. A significant amount of counterfeit tobacco was seized by our colleagues from Telford & Wrekin Council.”
Councillor Richard Overton, Cabinet Member for Enforcement, Community Safety and Customer Services, said:
“We are pleased with the success of this exercise that builds on previous success from a similar exercise undertaken earlier this year. While the full value is being assessed, we estimate the illegal tobacco seized to be in the region of £10,000.
“The areas raided were based on intelligence gathered by our trading standards team and West Mercia Police and took place at six locations across the borough.
“We know that the availability of cheap, illegal tobacco undermines action to reduce smoking rates and enables young people to start smoking. We are also aware that the trade in illegal tobacco, which is often counterfeit, is used by organised crime groups to raise funds for their criminal activity.
“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 legitimate businesses.”
