Illegal vapes, cigarettes and food products with an estimated retail value of more than £65,000 have been seized by Staffordshire County Council Trading Standards in a series of raids.
With the support of Staffordshire Police, Home Office Immigration and Lichfield District Council’s Environmental Health team, Trading Standards Officers visited four premises on 7 October.
They found more than 2,850 illegal or oversized vapes, 42,600 cigarettes, 17kg of hand rolling tobacco and 463 illegal food items including American candy and drinks.
Some of the illicit goods seized in the raids (image credit: Staffordshire Trading Standards)
The raids took place as part of Operation CeCe and Operation Joseph, national campaigns to tackle sales of illicit tobacco and illegal vapes respectively. Under the initiatives, Staffordshire Trading Standards has so far seized 610,000 cigarettes, more than 25,000 vapes and 301kg of hand rolling tobacco, with a total combined retail value of around £740,000.
The service has also seized 3,000 sweet products worth £8,000 from 23 shops over the past year.
Earlier this week, Staffordshire Trading Standards revealed that illegal food products, particularly American candy, are regularly being encountered by the team. “Every day we’re finding these sweets,” Staffordshire Trading Standards’ Stephanie Young told the BBC. “I don’t think there’s any town centre where there won’t be someone selling sweets with an unauthorised ingredient in it.”
Young attributed the growing popularity of American confectionery to the impact of social media influencers. “Where there is that appeal through the social media platforms, people want a bit of it,” she said. “You have got influencers out there. People want to be part of that story… and they’re prepared to pay the price for it.”
Victoria Wilson, Cabinet Member responsible for Trading Standards at Staffordshire County Council, said: “Our officers continue to tackle the sale of illicit and illegal products and this was a significant seizure.
“The supply of illegal goods is closely linked to organised crime and helps fund their operations. The items can also be dangerous to people’s health and affect legitimate traders, so taking them off the market is a real result.”
Lichfield District Council Cabinet member Councillor Alex Farrell said: “Our officers have participated in executing a series of successful raids across the Lichfield District seizing illegal products which would have been sold for thousands of pounds.
“The protection of the district’s residents is our priority and this operation is a stark warning to perpetrators that this criminality will not be tolerated.”
