More than £64,000 worth of illegal vaping, tobacco products seized from Sandwell shops

More than £64,000 worth of illegal and dangerous vaping and tobacco products have been seized from shops in Great Bridge and Smethwick.

According to local reports, Sandwell Council Trading Standards and licensing officers, along with colleagues from West Midlands Police, on July 7 visited eight shops in Great Bridge and Smethwick where officers seized illicit products, including 400 illegal vaping products worth around £3,200.

Officers were supported by tobacco detection dogs provided by Wagtail UK. 

In one shop, the tobacco detection dogs sniffed out 6,692 packs of cigarettes and 50 pouches of hand-rolling tobacco with a retail value worth more than £61,000. Most of the illicit tobacco was hidden in a basement.

Following the day of action, officers visited five more shops in Smethwick on July 12, seizing an additional 402 of illegal vaping products, worth more than £3,200.

The legal capacity of a disposable e-cigarette tank is 2ml or approximately 650 puffs. Many of those seized on the ‘day of action’ were more than double this, ranging from 4.5ml up to 9ml. As a general guide, if a disposable device offers more than approximately 650 puffs it will be illegal to offer for sale.

Many of the offending items found offered up to as many as 3,500 puffs. 

“Sandwell Council and our partners are committed to ensuring our residents and their families feel safe and enjoy good health, and the ‘Day of Action’ is a real demonstration of that commitment,” local reports quoted Councillor Danny Millard, Sandwell Council’s cabinet member for communities, as saying.

“Illegal tobacco and vaping products can be even more hazardous than commercially-approved items. While you think you might be getting a bargain, you can never be sure what you are smoking and the effect it might have on you.”