Sniffer dogs help seize £14k of illegal tobacco

Tobacco dogs Griff, Cooper and Bran netted a haul of 1750 packs of illegal cigarettes, 275 pouches of illegal hand-rolling tobacco in Sunderland city centre, Washington and the Coalfields, accompanied by Sunderland Trading Standards.

The seizures were the result of a joint operation with North East Regional Organised Crime Unit (NE ROCU) and a tobacco search team, with a dozen premises selected for visits on the basis of prior intelligence.

In addition to the illegal tobacco, 235 non-compliant vapes and 30 packs of shisha tobacco were also seized during the visits.

Councillor Kelly Chequer, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Health, Wellbeing and Safer Communities at Sunderland City Council, said: "Operations like this are an important part of driving illegal tobacco, and the harms that come with it, out of our city.

"It might seem like a bargain but illegal tobacco is often linked to organised crime, helping to fuel human trafficking, the drugs trade and loan sharks. There's also every chance that it's either smuggled or fake.

"Smoking also kills one in two lifetime smokers and because the sale of illegal cigarettes isn't generally subject to the usual age checks, they're likely to be sold to children, getting them hooked on a lethal addiction.

"So I would urge anyone who comes across the sale of illegal tobacco to report it so that we can take action."

Local operations under the National Op CeCe Program help to combat the illegal tobacco trade and build on strong partnership working across the agencies involved.

According to Lord Michael Bichard, Chair, National Trading Standards, illicit tobacco is a key priority area for the organisation. 

He said: "The aim of Operation CeCe is to tackle illicit tobacco at a local level. This local disruption activity, designed to protect consumers and legitimate businesses, is part of a broader strategy that tackles three 'tiers' of criminality, with factories abroad being shut down by HMRC and Border Force intercepting smuggled products and cash at the border.   

"In 2023-24, 19 million illicit tobacco products and 5,103kg of hand rolling tobacco (with a revenue value £11.8 million) were seized from 1,900 premises."

To find out how to to report illegal tobacco, visit: https://www.sunderland.gov.uk/article/29944/Illegal-tobacco-and-tobacco-products

In a separate two days of operations late last month, Sunderland Trading Standards and Northumbria Police visited shops in the Sunderland area with underage Police Cadets.  Of the 13 shops visited, two shops sold a vape and vape refill respectively. Investigations into these sales are on-going.  To find out more about the law regarding the types of vapes able to be sold and how to report underage sales anonymously, visit: https://www.sunderland.gov.uk/underage-sales