Hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of illegal cigarettes and vapes have been seized recently during a joint operation in Preston, once again raising the concern of impact of such illicit traders on the business of legitimate convenience stores.
Following information from the public, officers from the Prosper Partnership and neighbourhood policing teams, along with Lancashire County Council's Trading Standards, visited a property in the Brookfield area where the team seized a total of 10,932 packets of cigarettes, 1,348 vapes, and 558 packs of hand rolling tobacco.
If sold as genuine, the products would be worth around £212,000, stated the council.
PC Saunders from Preston’s neighbourhood policing team, said, “Products, like the ones seized during this operation, can contain harmful chemicals.
"Unfortunately, we have seen cases where people have become very unwell, sometimes even hospitalised, due to the use of illegal tobacco and vapes so, as part of the Prosper Partnership, we will continue to work with our partners to ensure they are taken off the streets.”
Councillor Joshua Roberts, cabinet member for rural affairs, environment, and communities at Lancashire County Council, said: “We were pleased to support the police in this seizure. Removing illicit goods helps protect the health of Lancashire residents.
"Any cash suspected to be from crime will be seized by our financial investigator and reinvested into fighting local crime.
"Our Trading Standards team will keep targeting illegal tobacco and non-compliant vapes, taking enforcement action against anyone who breaks the law.
It comes a day after a covert operation by GB News highlighted the continuing challenge posed by Britain’s illicit tobacco trade.
The investigation, carried out in Birmingham with the involvement of Philip Morris International, deployed a team of former special forces operatives and ex-police officers led by Will O’Reilly, a former Metropolitan Police Detective Chief Inspector and now consultant to the tobacco firm.
Within minutes of entering the first convenience store, investigators were able to purchase multiple packets of counterfeit cigarettes. Further checks across the city indicated both unsuspecting retailers being supplied counterfeit stock and others allegedly concealing goods off-site in a bid to avoid detection.
Fresh research from KPMG shows the UK’s consumption of illicit tobacco remains at a two-year high, underlining the scale of the problem for both legitimate retailers and enforcement bodies.
O’Reilly said many products are passed off as genuine, sometimes branded as imports from countries such as Nigeria, but in reality are counterfeits. He added that while some retailers are unaware of the nature of the stock, others are actively seeking to conceal it.
A recent investigation by Asian Trader led to similar conclusion. Retailers on the ground detailed how such illicit tobacco traders operate from pop-up shops that usually sell confectionery and soft drinks as the façade.