Illegal tobacco seized in Bradford

The Tackling Illicit Tobacco for Better Health Programme, funded by the five Public Health departments, uses multi-agency enforcement and community marketing campaigns to tackle the problems of the illicit trade.

Two premises were visited in which illegal practices were taking place. The premises were identified from intelligence and complaints passed to West Yorkshire Trading Standards by members of the public and partner agencies.

Illicit tobacco was hidden behind the counter, among food on the shelves, and in a cellar outside the shop. Some of the tobacco products were counterfeit, did not bear the statutory health warnings, were not in standardised packaging, and were non-duty paid. If genuine, the value of the cigarettes seized would be more than £60,000, with a loss of duty to the taxpayer of almost £40,000. A large quantity of cash was also seized by the police.

In addition, one staff member in the shop was forbidden from taking employment and this has been reported to immigration services for them to investigate.

Linda Davis, West Yorkshire Trading Standards manager, said: “We are committed to the fight against cheap and illicit tobacco. By taking tough action and working with the police, this operation has taken a significant amount of illicit tobacco off the streets.”

Councillor Pauleen Grahame, chair of the West Yorkshire Joint Services Governance and Audit Sub-Committee, added: “It is really great that partners are working to tackle traders that break the law. I would like to thank all the partners and members of the public for reporting illegal sales and encourage everyone to continue doing so to reduce the harm caused by tobacco in our communities.”

To date, the programme has taken nearly 7 million illicit cigarettes and two and half tonnes of illicit hand-rolling tobacco off the streets of West Yorkshire.