£15,000 haul of counterfeit tobacco seized in Telford raids
A haul of illegal tobacco with an estimated street value of £15,000 was seized in Telford in a series of raids.
The counterfeit tobacco pouches and cigarette packets were confiscated during a series of visits to six shops in the borough following tip-offs by members of the public.
None of the retailers have so far been named.
The goods were discovered after officers based with the Rural and Business Crime team at Telford Police Station carried out joint and unannounced visits in partnership with Telford & Wrekin Council’s Trading Standards team.
Sergeant Dougal Bell, of the Malinsgate station said: “We visited a number of shops in Telford following reports of counterfeit and illicit tobacco being sold.
“Operations like this prove that working closely with our partners we are able to prevent criminal enterprises continuing their distribution of illegal products such as tobacco and alcohol.
"A significant amount of counterfeit tobacco was seized by our colleagues from Telford & Wrekin Council."
The council's deputy leader and cabinet member for enforcement, community safety and customer services, Councillor Richard Overton said: “We are pleased with the success of this exercise and the partnership approach we have taken working closely with West Mercia Police.
“While the full value is being assessed, we estimate the illegal tobacco sized - a mixture of lose leaf pouches and cigarettes - to be in the region of £15,000.
“The areas raided were based on intelligence gathered by West Mercia Police and our trading standards team and took place at six locations across the borough, currently no arrests have been made.
“We will continue to carry out exercises such as this to protect, care and invest in the borough and show that we are always on the side of people who play by the rules.”
In a post on social media network Telford Police tweeted: “An Operation today, led by Telford & Wrekin Council’s Trading Standards officers and assisted by West Mercia Police’s MATES and Rural and Business Crime teams, have seized large quantities of counterfeit and illicit tobacco/cigarettes from six stores across Telford.”
Sergeant Bell said his team took part in Multi-Agency Targeted Enforcement Strategy (MATES) working with Trading Standards, Immigration and fire services to conduct similar operations at commercial premises in the area.
The officers have also launched an appeal anyone with information about similar illegal activity to phone Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
