Illicit and unregulated tobacco destined for Lancashire’s streets has been seized from several shops in a major operation in Preston city centre.
Illicit and unregulated tobacco destined for Lancashire’s streets has been seized from several shops in a major operation in Preston city centre.
A team of officers from Lancashire Trading Standards, Customs and Lancashire Police, which are backing the Evening Post’s Don’t Let Them Make a Packet Campaign, searched nine retail outlets in Preston city centre accompanied by three specially trained dogs.
It is the first time sniffer dogs have ever been used in Lancashire to hunt down illegal tobacco.
Surprised shoppers watched as the group visited shops on Church Street, Fishergate Hill, and a bustling city shopping centre.
The finds, which amount to 67 packets, and would have cost the public purse 400 in lost revenue, give an insight into the scale of the illicit trade in Preston.
The team seized 1,340 cigarettes and seven packets of hand-rolled tobacco from premises following calls from concerned members of the public.
The tobacco was either counterfeit, had no duty paid after being smuggled from abroad, or was a banned brand specifically designed for the criminal trade.
The latter, known as illicit whites, have previously been found to contain floor sweepings, rat droppings, sawdust and arsenic in addition to the other dangerous and harmful chemicals that regular tobacco contains.
Trading Standards will now investigate each shop where tobacco was found - which can’t be named for legal reasons - in an effort to prosecute the people behind the illegal finds.
Lee Ormandy, of Lancashire Trading Standards, said: “Hopefully the operation demonstrates we are acting on what the public tell us, and we want to show that even the smallest piece of intelligence can make all the difference.
“We think the success of the raids show more and more people are beginning to understand and see the grave threat illicit tobacco poses in our communities, and perhaps more tellingly, it shows less and less people are prepared to tolerate it.
“The tobacco enforcement dogs are a fantastic resource for the Trading Standards team, and make a valuable contribution to our armoury.”
Julie Waddington, who co-ordinated the operation – called Wagtail – said: “We’ve had some seizures, mainly foreign branded cigarettes with incorrect information and labelling.
“A lot of the shops we visited today proved to be trading legitimately which is good news.”
It is thought to be the first time the press has ever been invited out on an operation by Lancashire Trading Standards.
Launched seven weeks ago, the Evening Post’s campaign aims to raise awareness of the impact of the black market trade in tobacco on Lancashire’s communities, health agencies, and businesses, and calls for tough action on smugglers and dealers.
Illicit tobacco is often peddled in disadvantaged communities or to young people whom criminals know often cannot afford full priced duty paid cigarettes.
Health agencies say deprived communities have a higher risk of dying from preventable diseases triggered by smoking, and the availability of illegal tobacco adds to the problem as it means the incentive for people to quit is severely affected.
Many young people are being sold to because illicit dealers do not challenge people about their age, and it is estimated counterfeit tobacco is likely to kill four times more people than smuggled illegal drugs.
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