Counterfeit cigarettes and tobacco worth more than £2,000 have been seized following raids by Sefton Council Trading Standards in a special Tobacco Enforcement initiative.
More than 6,000 illegal cigarettes along with pouches of tobacco were seized after retail premises in Waterloo and Southport were visited by Trading Standards officers and specially trained tobacco sniffer dogs.
Cigarettes seized in the raid
The seizure included counterfeit and non-duty paid products which cannot be legally sold in the UK.
Cllr Paulette Lappin, Cabinet Member for Regulatory, Compliance and Corporate Services, said, “We will always take action against anybody who chooses to trade in illegal tobacco.
“Sales of illicit tobacco is completely unfair on those traders who sell UK tobacco products legitimately.
“The availability of cheap illegal cigarettes like this needs to stop and we are determined to protect legitimate traders. Further raids are planned in the future so hopefully this will be a warning to others who operate in the trade of counterfeit tobacco.”
“Further raids are planned in the future so hopefully this will be a warning to others who operate in the trade of counterfeit tobacco.”
Submit News Contact us with your community, business or sport news. Phone 07581350321
Email ots@otsnews.co.uk
Facebook www.facebook.com/otsnews.co.uk
Twitter www.twitter.com/onthespot_news
Breaking local news as it happens, searchable archives with photographs, the ability to instantly comment on news articles – there are so many advantages to OTS (Onthespot) News.
If you want your news read locally online then send it to ots@otsnews.co.uk – relying only on the newspaper is to restrict yourself to an ever reducing audience.
OTS News on Social Media