Officers from Heart of the South West Trading Standards seized more than £10,000 of illegal tobacco and vaping products during a series of raids in Exmouth last week.
Accompanied by specialist tobacco detection dogs and officers from Devon and Cornwall Police, the team visited two retail premises where they found counterfeit and non-duty-paid tobacco and cigarettes, and vapes which did not comply with tobacco and related products regulations.
Officers from Devon and Cornwall Police assisted on the raids (image credit: Heart of the South West Trading Standards)
In total 444 illegal vapes with an estimated value of £8,000, 417 packets of illicit cigarettes with an estimated value of £2,085 and 107 pouches of hand-rolling tobacco worth almost £1,000 were confiscated.
Since the beginning of the year Heart of the South West Trading Standards Service has seized approximately £118,000 worth of illicit tobacco and approximately £37,000 of illicit vapes.
Alex Fry, Heart of the South West Trading Standards Service’s Operations Manager, said: ”The removal of illegal tobacco and vapes from entering the marketplace is a high priority for us, and this was yet another successful operation.
“The service uses detection dogs so regardless of where it is hidden, in a storage container or retail premises, the dogs have the ability to sniff out even small quantities of tobacco and vapes that are hidden from view.
“Retail outlets that sell counterfeit and illicit tobacco are big business and these shops can undercut other local general stores who are trying to operate legally during difficult economic conditions.”
Inspector Grant Leitch of Devon and Cornwall Police said: “Carrying out this proactive operation resulted in a significant amount of counterfeit goods being removed from the streets and circulation.
“I’d like to urge members of the public to report concerns to us so we can continue to disrupt illegal activity.”
