{"id":57154,"date":"2022-07-26T14:53:51","date_gmt":"2022-07-26T13:53:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/?p=57154"},"modified":"2022-09-21T12:57:03","modified_gmt":"2022-09-21T11:57:03","slug":"trading-standards-seizes-large-amounts-of-illicit-tobacco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/trading-standards-seizes-large-amounts-of-illicit-tobacco\/","title":{"rendered":"Trading Standards seizes large amounts of illicit tobacco"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Our Trading Standards officers seized a large amount of illegal tobacco in raids in Devon and Somerset last Friday estimated to be worth more than \u00a3200,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Our officers, from the Heart of the South West Trading Standards Service, were supported by Avon &amp; Somerset Police, Devon and Cornwall Police, the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit and HM Revenue and Customs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The seizure is one of the largest of its kind by our service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Using specialist detection dogs officers executed five warrants. We raided two stores, a residential address and a storage container in Taunton, two business addresses in each of Exeter and Yeovil and a business and&nbsp;residential premises in Tiverton. Two commercial vehicles were also searched.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A coordinated raid took place on a linked business premises in Northampton by Northamptonshire Trading Standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These recent operations means that the service, which is commissioned by Devon and Somerset county councils, Plymouth City Council and Torbay Council, has now seized illicit tobacco worth more than \u00a3310,000 across the service area during 2021 and 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"block_62dff09ad0415\" class=\"councillor-quote align-right grid-x\">\r\n\t<blockquote class=\"councillor-quote-blockquote medium-auto small-12 cell\">\r\n                    <div class=\"councillor-quote-title\"><p>Fakir Mohamed Osman, Head of the Heart of the South West Trading Standards Service said: <\/p><\/div>\r\n        \t\t<div class=\"councillor-quote-text\"><p><!-- wp:paragraph --><br \/>\n&lt;\u201cOur Trading Standards team is playing its part in tackling this trade which has a links to organised crime. The trade in Illicit cigarettes takes\u00a0 business away from legitimate retailers and undermines public health efforts to reduce smoking rates.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>\u201cUsing the dogs helps searches to be completed more quickly so more premises can be checked. We will continue to act on intelligence to target unscrupulous sellers making money from this illegal activity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<\/div>\r\n\t<\/blockquote>\r\n    \r\n    <\/div>\n\n<div id=\"block_62dff145d0416\" class=\"councillor-quote align-right dcc grid-x\">\r\n\t<blockquote class=\"councillor-quote-blockquote medium-auto small-12 cell\">\r\n                    <div class=\"councillor-quote-title\"><p>Councillor Rufus Gilbert, Devon County Council\u2019s Cabinet Member for Trading Standards, said: <\/p><\/div>\r\n        \t\t<div class=\"councillor-quote-text\"><p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe service uses detection dogs as we are finding that criminals are using increasingly elaborate methods to hide illegal tobacco.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut regardless of where it is hidden the dogs have the ability to sniff out even small quantities of tobacco that are hidden from view.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo, for retailers and members of the public who think they can get away with this illegal activity there really is nowhere to hide.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd for those who think illegal tobacco is a victimless crime think again. We know that the availability of cheap, illegal tobacco at pocket money prices encourages children to start smoking.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<\/div>\r\n\t<\/blockquote>\r\n        <div class=\"councillor-quote-aside medium-auto small-12 cell\">\r\n\t<figure class=\"councillor-quote-image grid-x\">\r\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"small-6 cell medium-12\" src=\"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/wp-content\/themes\/dcc-parent-v4\/images\/avatar-placeholder.png\" alt=\"placeholder image\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\r\n        <figcaption class=\"councillor-quote-description small-6 cell medium-12\" >\r\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/democracy.devon.gov.uk\/mgUserInfo.aspx?UID=143\" rel=\"noopener\">Councillor Rufus Gilbert, Cabinet Member for Economic Recovery and Skills<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n            <\/figure>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    \r\n    <\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Investigations into those premises found selling the items are ongoing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Anyone wishing to report the selling of illegal tobacco can report anonymously online to Trading Standards at <a href=\"https:\/\/eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.swillegaltobacco.info%2F&amp;data=04%7C01%7Cdavid.beasley%40devon.gov.uk%7C375d766a27c446b7e07608d9dcd36fec%7C8da13783cb68443fbb4b997f77fd5bfb%7C0%7C0%7C637783622961763782%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&amp;sdata=jpUvh4JXD030Bvb6YWN7W84%2BAGun1PRnpKy6vzJyuG0%3D&amp;reserved=0\" rel=\"noopener\">www.swillegaltobacco.info\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":859,"featured_media":57157,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-economy-and-skills"],"acf":[],"featured_image":{"ID":57157,"title":"Tobacco","alt":"Tobacco","description":"","caption":"","url":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2022\/07\/Tobacco.jpg","width":921,"height":613,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2022\/07\/Tobacco-400x270.jpg","thumbnail_width":400,"thumbnail_height":270,"medium":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2022\/07\/Tobacco-600x399.jpg","medium_width":600,"medium_height":399,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2022\/07\/Tobacco-768x511.jpg","medium_large_width":768,"medium_large_height":511,"large":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2022\/07\/Tobacco-800x532.jpg","large_width":800,"large_height":532,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2022\/07\/Tobacco.jpg","1536x1536_width":921,"1536x1536_height":613,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2022\/07\/Tobacco.jpg","2048x2048_width":921,"2048x2048_height":613,"thumbnail_featured":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2022\/07\/Tobacco-770x450.jpg","thumbnail_featured_width":770,"thumbnail_featured_height":450,"thumbnail_sidebar":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2022\/07\/Tobacco-200x135.jpg","thumbnail_sidebar_width":200,"thumbnail_sidebar_height":135,"banner-block":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2022\/07\/Tobacco.jpg","banner-block_width":440,"banner-block_height":293,"small-banner":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2022\/07\/Tobacco.jpg","small-banner_width":640,"small-banner_height":426,"medium-banner":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2022\/07\/Tobacco.jpg","medium-banner_width":921,"medium-banner_height":613,"small-thumb":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2022\/07\/Tobacco.jpg","small-thumb_width":640,"small-thumb_height":426,"medium-thumb":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2022\/07\/Tobacco.jpg","medium-thumb_width":320,"medium-thumb_height":213,"large-thumb":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2022\/07\/Tobacco.jpg","large-thumb_width":420,"large-thumb_height":280,"slideshow-preview":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2022\/07\/Tobacco.jpg","slideshow-preview_width":300,"slideshow-preview_height":200,"slideshow":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2022\/07\/Tobacco.jpg","slideshow_width":800,"slideshow_height":533}},"category_priority":false,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2028-09-20 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