Illegal vapes, cigarettes, tobacco and food were among the items seized by Staffordshire County Council Trading Standards in a recent raid, with more than £20,000 worth of illicit goods being removed from sale.
Over the course of two separate raids in Rugeley on 18 July, Trading Standards Officers supported by specialist search dogs and Staffordshire Police found more than 450 illegal and oversized vapes, 14kg of illegal tobacco, 15,400 illicit cigarettes and 196 items of illegal food. Police officers also seized a sum of cash.
The moment a concealment of illegal tobacco was discovered during one of the raids was caught on film:
Victoria Wilson, Cabinet Member responsible for Trading Standards at Staffordshire County Council, said: “The illicit tobacco market is closely linked to organised crime and harms local communities and legitimate businesses, so removing it from the market is vital.
“Teams are also seeing a huge increase in the availability of oversized and illegal vapes, many of which are targeted at children. An increasing number of these are now advertising 12,000 puff capability, which is ten times the legal limit. The team do rely on intelligence from the public about the sales of any non-compliant or illegal products, so anyone with information should contact the service.”
