Illegal tobacco worth £500,000 seized from Hull

A huge haul of illegal tobacco worth £500,000 has been seized from Hull on Thursday (21).

According to local reports, cigarettes and tobacco, said to be worth £500,000, were seized from the Scott Street area in a joint police operation with Hull Central Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT), licensing officers and Trading Standards.

Report stated that the haul of illegal tobacco discovered was so large it took two police vans and a car to transport it.

One man has been arrested and remains in custody, said Humberside Police.

“This is not just a case of taking cheap tobacco off the streets. We do it to protect people and our communities. Operations such as these have been known to fund organised crime groups, with connections to modern-day slavery and human trafficking.

“I hope that this latest seizure of counterfeit and illicit tobacco products shows that we will take every avenue to disrupt those who are involved in this type of criminality.”

Trading Standards is now leading the investigation.