- Newham Council’s Trading Standards recently teamed up with specialist officers and detection dogs from “Wagtails” to track down and seize illegal tobacco worth £20,000
- Operation helps protect Newham residents from unsafe and illegal goods
Twenty thousand cigarettes have been taken off the streets, as well as 1kg of hand-rolling tobacco, 2.5kg of chewing tobacco, 100 oversized vapes, and other non-compliant or illicit products.
The illegal tobacco haul was uncovered when officers visited retail premises in Newham as part of a joint operation with “Wagtails”. Over the course of the activities, a total of 15 businesses were visited, with 8 found to have illicit and non- compliant products.
During the operations officers also uncovered hidden storage areas, where illicit products were being stored. This provided a clear picture of an organised criminal element and activities being operated by a few unscrupulous traders within the borough.
The majority of the tobacco was non-duty paid and suspected to have been smuggled into the country. A proportion were believed to be counterfeits of popular brands, which are likely to contain harmful substances and may not self-extinguish.
The crackdown was part of Operation CeCe, a national campaign which focusses on joint working between National Trading Standards and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.
The investigations remain ongoing and the seized products will now be fully assessed as part of the inquiry to determine the exact offences that have been committed.
Anyone who is prosecuted and convicted of being involved in selling or supplying illegal tobacco can face penalties including up to 10 years in prison and an unlimited fine.
If you have information about the sale of illegal tobacco in Newham, please report it via Citizens Advice Consumer Advice line on 0808 223 1133 or report on this website in confidence, anonymously.
Alternatively, you can also report information via the London Trading Standards consumer crime tool. You can report information that is associated with people dealing in fake, illicit, unsafe products, or the sale of age-restricted products to children.