'One of largest seizures ever' as illegal cigarettes worth £400k found in Walsall shops and unit

Thousands of illegal cigarettes have been seized following a bust by Walsall Council. Tobacco and disposable vapes were also found in searches across six shops, a car and inside a storage unit.

The items, worth almost £400,000, were sniffed out by specially trained dogs on Friday, September 20. It is one of the largest seizures by Walsall Council’s Trading Standards to date.

The bust was part of Operation CeCe, a National Trading Standards initiative in partnership HMRC to tackle illegal tobacco. The traders were visited by the Trading Standards team and the police after receiving intelligence that illegal tobacco was being sold.

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Illegal goods were found in a storage unit and three of the six shops visited by officers with one vehicle also found to be storing illegal cigarettes. The seizures included over 515,000 cigarettes, 2kg of illegal hand rolling tobacco and 400 illegal disposable vapes.

Some of these vapes, which are thought to be attractive to children due to their colourful appearance and fruity flavours, contained as much as 15,000 puffs when the legal limit is approximately 600. Sniffer dogs Griff, Bran and Cooper, highly trained tobacco and vapes dogs assisted the team.

Griff sniffed out a storage container where nearly 500,000 illegal cigarettes were being unlawfully stored. Illegal tobacco, cigarettes and vapes were later found in three retail premises. In one store, a purpose built sophisticated, wall concealment was found with an electromagnet system to keep the hide closed.

Illegal goods were also found behind shop counters, on storeroom floors and in the toilet area. Ongoing investigations in the borough continue to take place to crack down on illegal products.

Councillor Garry Perry, Leader of Walsall Council said: "This is our largest seizure yet, a joint success for our Trading Standards and police colleagues. While more illicit goods are now off our streets, it serves as a reminder that this sort of crime cannot go on. Illegal tobacco funds organised criminal activity, with links to human trafficking, drugs and even terrorism. It also causes anti-social behaviour and exploits vulnerable people in our communities.

"I would like to thank our colleagues across Trading Standards, West Midlands Police and our sniffer dogs Griff, Bran and Cooper for carrying out this work. We take this sort of activity very seriously and we will ensure every enforcement approach and technique is used to ensure that this is disrupted."

Lord Michael Bichard, Chair of National Trading Standards, added: "The trade in illegal tobacco harms local communities and affects honest businesses operating within the law. Having removed 27 million illegal cigarettes, 7,500kg of hand rolling tobacco and almost 175kg of shisha products from sale, the National Trading Standards initiative in partnership with HMRC continues to successfully disrupt this illicit trade."