Trading standards officers seized goods worth £6.5 million in Newport last year, during crackdowns on illicit tobacco, vapes and counterfeit items.
The goods were seized in 41 raids of premises across the city between March 2024 and April 2025.
It includes more than 300,000 cigarettes, 144 kilograms of tobacco, and 12,400 “unsafe” vapes – as well as nearly 5,000 counterfeit items – according to a new council report.
The seizures represent another busy year for Newport City Council’s trading standards department.
While officers confiscated more tobacco products the previous year, the total value of seizures in 2024/25 is ten times higher, thanks to the recovery of expensive counterfeit items.
This is because the council estimates the value of fakes at the same price as their real counterparts.
Operations codenamed Frost and Firecrest have proved successful in targeting rogue traders, and the latter won the council and Gwent Police a national trading standards award for tackling illegal tobacco and vape supply in Pillgwenlly.
The city council encourages residents to report those illicit products via the ‘No ifs no butts’ campaign’s website.
The campaign describes illegal vapes as “untested” products which may not follow regulations – either because they are fake brands, high strength or potentially smuggled into the UK.
Single-use vapes have also been banned since June, and in Newport trading standards officers have visited more than 80 retailers across the city to provide information about the law change.
Illegal tobacco may also be smuggled or bootlegged into the country, and the term also covers sales of individual cigarettes, fake brands or otherwise untaxed products, according to ‘No ifs, no butts’.
The council report for 2024/25 also includes information on underage sales of tobacco and vaping products.
Optimistically, incidents appear to have dropped since the previous year, when 17 out of 60 shops failed a “test purchase”.
The figure for last year was an improved 11 failures out of 63, and each retailer affected has “received a guidance intervention” on the rules.
(Local Democracy Reporting Service)