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Supported by the North Somerset Licensing Team, Police Licensing Officers, the Home Office Immigration Service and the South-West Regional Organised Crime Unit (SWROCU), officers from the local town centre police team as well as search dogs specially trained to detect concealed tobacco saw a total of 153 packets of illegal cigarettes and 1kg of illegal hand rolling tobacco seized by Trading Standards officers.
In addition, 355 illegal vapes were seized and one person was arrested by the Immigration Service because they do not have the right to be in or work in the UK.
Cheap, illegal tobacco and vapes are easily accessible to young people. The money made from their sale is used by organised criminal gangs to finance other illegal activities, such as drugs, modern day slavery and people trafficking. Young people are also brought into contact with these criminal gangs, putting them at greater risk.
Trading Standards Officers have discovered several sophisticated concealments across the region being used by the criminals to conceal their stock. Criminal gangs go to great lengths to hide it from the authorities, protecting their stock from seizure.
Cllr James Clayton, Executive Member for safety in the community at North Somerset Council, said: “I’d like to thank all organisations who took part in this successful multi-agency operation. We continue to tackle illegal tobacco and the criminals who operate in our communities. If anyone has any concerns about the sale of illegal tobacco and vaping products, including underage sales, then please report them to Trading Standards South West www.tssw.org.uk/report-it. You may have the missing piece of information that we need to disrupt serious and organised crime.
Matt Lenny, Director of Public Health at North Somerset Council, said: “Smoking is the leading cause of premature, preventable death nationally and in the South West, killing approximately 250 people in our region each year. The best thing a smoker can do for their health is to quit. Cheap, illegal tobacco undermines smokers’ attempts to quit their addiction to tobacco. It is also more easily available to children and young people often leading to a lifetime addiction.”
Lord Michael Bichard, Chair, National Trading Standards, said: “The trade in illegal tobacco harms local communities and affects honest businesses operating within the law. Having removed 60,473,235 cigarettes and 16,416kg of hand rolling tobacco between 1st January 2001 and 30th September 2024 in England and Wales, Operation CeCe (a National Trading Standards initiative in partnership with HMRC) has taken £35.3million pounds worth of illicit tobacco off the market since the operation launched in 2021 and continues to successfully disrupt this illicit trade.”
Sales of illegal tobacco and/or vapes can be reported anonymously to the Trading Standards South West team at www.tssw.org.uk/report-it or by calling the Citizens Advice consumer advice line on 0808 223 1133.
Better Health North Somerset (www.betterhealthns.co.uk/stop-smoking/) offers a range of free quitting support. Advisors offer a non-judgmental support for those who want to stop smoking. They understand the difficulties involved in stopping smoking and offer the most effective way of stopping smoking for good. Smokers are 3 times more likely to quit with support.
Support and advice to stop smoking can also be found on the NHS website https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/quit-smoking/.
Details of local support to quit can be found on https://www.nhs.uk/better-health/quit-smoking/ready-to-quit-smoking/find-your-local-stop-smoking-service/