Herefordshire grocery shop stripped-off alcohol licence

A grocery shop in a Herefordshire town has lost its licence to sell alcohol after it was found selling bootleg cigarettes, stated recent reports.

According to local reports on Monday (10), Trading standards officers made three separate test purchases of Benson and Hedges cigarettes from Ledbury Mini Market in the town’s New Street in August and September last year, finding them to be counterfeit in each case.

In October, they then seized a further 8,560 illegal cigarettes from a car used by the shop owner, Dler Mohammed Amin Aziz.

Principal trading standards officer Paul Di Lucia said his department investigates three kinds of illegal tobacco sales- ‘smuggled’ goods manufactured legitimately abroad but on which no UK duty has been paid, ‘illegal whites’ which do not resemble UK brands and ‘counterfeit’ goods illegally manufactured in imitation of genuine brands.

Lucia added that cigarettes confiscated from Ledbury Mini Market were found to be in the latter category. The cigarettes were sold at £5.50, compared with up to £14 in a supermarket, he pointed out.

“By selling these products, Mr Aziz has shown complete disregard for consumers’ health, and only cares about making money,” reports quoted Lucia as saying.

“Allowing Mr Aziz to continue to sell alcohol would send out completely the wrong message, and would be a kick in the teeth for legal businesses.”

A criminal investigation into the trade at the shop “is nearing conclusion”, he noted, adding that Aziz “has consciously broken the law on many occasions, and is incapable of being trusted to trade legitimately”.

Though the sale price of such illegal products can be much lower, they can yield profits 10 times greater than those manufactured and sold legitimately, he added.