Around 4,000 illegal cigarettes have been seized along with hand-rolling tobacco from two shops in Gainsborough. West Lindsey District Council, Lincolnshire County Council’s Trading Standards and Lincolnshire Police raided the unnamed premises on April 26 after receiving intelligence.
A district council spokesman said: “As the trading standards investigation is still ongoing following the seizure of the cigarettes, no individual store will be named as it could prejudice any future prosecution. We believe that approximately the final tally was 4,000 cigarettes which were being sold at £5 per pack, as well as some hand-rolling tobacco.”
Kim Enderby, senior licensing and community safety officer for West Lindsey District Council, said: “Two shops were targeted that had previously sold illicit cigarettes during a test purchase operation. Searches of the premises identified that attempts had been made to conceal illegal cigarettes beneath the counter in one shop and in food boxes in the other. The visits resulted in the seizure of thousands of illegal cigarettes.”
Chairman of the prosperous communities committee, Councillor Owen Bierley, said: “One of the ways to support legitimate businesses is by targeting those involved in criminal activity. This is about levelling the playing field for legitimate local businesses who cannot compete with their criminal competitors.
“Shops selling dangerous and illegal products contribute nothing to the local community or economy and this sort of activity will be met head on. Having the three partner agencies working together on an operation like this gives us the opportunity to identify numerous potential offences, share intelligence and cause as much disruption as possible to the criminals involved in this activity.”
Andy Wright, principal trading standards officer at Lincolnshire County Council, said the investigation continues to establish the person, or people, responsible. He said: “Our objective is to remove dangerous tobacco products from the market. Illegal cigarettes do not have an important safety feature, they do not self-extinguish. It is a legal requirement that cigarettes self-extinguish if left unattended.
“In Lincolnshire, there have been a number of house fires that the fire service attribute to unattended illegal cigarettes. In some unfortunate cases, these have proved fatal. In many areas of Lincolnshire, we see a distinct relationship between retail of illegal cigarettes, anti-social behaviour, drugs, modern-day slavery, and violent crime. The sale of illegal cigarettes is unacceptable to law-abiding members of the community, but few realise the connection to more serious crime.
“The premises we inspected were used for the purpose of supplying illegal cigarettes and tobacco. Food items present were both sparse and out of date. Clearly, the profitability of the business could not be based on the sale of these items.
“The presence of small quantities of food was just a façade to hide the true purpose of the shop which was to sell illegal cigarettes and tobacco. If you have any information you feel may assist, we ask that you contact us.”
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