Over £100k of illegal vapes and cigarettes seized in Grimsby shop raids

Over £100,000 worth of illegal vapes, tobacco and cigarettes were seized during a series of raids at shops in and around Grimsby. North East Lincolnshire Council Trading Standards team seized illicit tobacco products during operations throughout Stoptober.

The team and partner organisations including Humberside Police uncovered 28,120 cigarettes, 12.45 kilos of tobacco and 3133 illegal disposable vapes in a number of shops during the four week operation. The products have an estimated value of over £100,000.

Shops and businesses on Freeman Street, Cromwell Road, Yarborough Road, and Second Avenue on the Nunsthorpe estate were all visited. The raids were part of Operation CeCe, an ongoing intelligence-led operation, targeting counterfeit and illicit cigarettes, tobacco and illegal disposable vape dealers.

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Since January 2021, North East Lincolnshire Council Trading Standards team have seized 84,957 packs of cigarettes, 10,750 pouches of tobacco and over 17,000 illegal vapes, with a combined value of almost £1.8 million, all money which would have gone out of the local economy and into the hands of organised crime gangs.

Humberside Police’s Neighbourhood Policing Inspector for Grimsby West Claire Jacobs said: “We deployed our teams in support of North East Lincolnshire Council during this important operation to combat illicit cigarettes and tobacco within North East Lincolnshire. We continue our commitment through the Clear Hold Build initiative to ensuring that Grimsby remains a fantastic place, and working closely with partners on operations such as this one helps us to do exactly that.”

By law, Vapes should have an internal tank capacity of no more than 2ml, and the level of nicotine contained in the vaping fluid should not exceed 20mg/ml (or 2 per cent). As with tobacco products, these items are required to display certain health warnings and every such device, and the liquid it contains, should be registered with the MHRA (Medicines and Health care products Regulatory Agency) prior to being released onto the market.

Councillor Ron Shepherd, portfolio holder for safer and stronger communities, said: “This joint operation shows just how important it is to work together. Multi-agency operations such as these are keeping these products, that do not meet safety standards and are putting lives at risk, off the streets. We know illicit and fake cigarettes do not comply with the Reduced Ignition Propensity requirements and won’t self-extinguish, so are likely to start a fire.

“When you buy these products, you could be putting your own health at risk. Not only has no duty been paid on them but they’ve not been tested to ensure they’re safe.

It is important to remember that whilst legitimate disposable vaping bars can be a very useful aid to smokers who are wanting to quit, they still have potential health issues as a result of use, and should never be purchased and used by non-smokers”.