Salford c-store owner fined over illegal tobacco

A Salford convenience store owner has been prosecuted and fined for selling counterfeit tobacco following an investigation by Salford City Council Trading Standards.

Retailer Karzan Ibrahim Abdullah, director of Broughton Convenience Store Ltd.,  was hauled before Salford and Manchester Magistrates court last week, where he pleaded guilty to possessing and selling illicit tobacco products.

The matter was first brought to the attention of the authorities when members of the public raised concerns about the firm to Salford City Council.

According to local reports, on Nov 19, 2019, trading standards officers and a specialist dog handler visited the shop, and asked the member of staff working behind the counter if there was any illicit tobacco in the store.

They handed over a carrier bag filled with illegal cigarettes, before running out of the shop shouting: “I don’t know, the boss is not here.”

As they were the only members of staff working, the shop was left completely unmanned.

Whilst officers were still at the shop, Abdullah arrived, and admitted he’d been selling illegal cigarettes.

Council officers seized 11,210 cigarettes, including 640 counterfeit smokes, and 128 pouches of counterfeit tobacco in the basement and in a back room.

Nine days later, on November 28, officers returned to the store for a follow-up visit and reportedly found more illegal cigarettes behind the till and hidden in a back room, amounting to additional 1,740 cigarettes, including 280 counterfeit, and 20 pouches of tobacco were found stashed away.

Across both raids, officers seized 12,950 cigarettes, including 920 counterfeit, and 148 counterfeit pouches of tobacco, with an estimated total street value of £11,256.

Abdullah was sentenced to 200 hours of unpaid work and ordered to pay costs of £920. His Limited Company was fined £750 and ordered to pay costs of £920, as well as a victim surcharge of £95.