Trading Standards seize illicit products from two stores
NEARLY 300 illicit nicotine products have been seized from two stores in Aberdeen by the Trading Standards Scotland team.
Officers found a total of 225 packs of illegal cigarettes, 30 packs of counterfeit hand rolling tobacco and 29 illegal vapes from the two stores, one of which had stashed the illegal goods in two secret cupboards in the stockroom.
Of the seizures, the cigarettes were a mixture of non-duty paid, counterfeit and illicit/cheap whites – mass produced illegal cigarettes that are made in one country and smuggled into another.
Trading Standards were assisted by Police Scotland and two specially-trained sniffer dogs Boo and Rosie (pictured).
Graeme Paton, Aberdeen City Council Trading Standards manager, said: “People might think they are getting a bargain buying tobacco from under the counter in a shop or via social media, and that it does no harm.
“But, they probably don’t realise the connections between illegal tobacco and organised crime and the proceeds are used to fund other illegal activities such as people smuggling or drug dealing.
“Retailers involved in the trade in illegal tobacco are very sneaky at hiding their stocks however, they should be aware of their tricks – Boo and Rosie are specially trained to find tobacco products and their assistance is invaluable to enable us to find tobacco products that would not be visible during an inspection.”
The Trading Standards Scotland team has urged the public not to purchase these illegal products, not only due to their part in wider organised crime, but for the danger they present to shoppers.
The Aberdeen team highlighted that the illicit/cheap whites and counterfeit products seized did not contain special bands to restrict oxygen access to the burning end of the cigarette meaning that the cigarette would continue to burn if not put out by the smoker, making it a potential fire hazard.
All cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco sold in the UK should come in standardised packaging with both written and pictorial health warning and all text should be in English.
Paton said: “We’d ask people not to buy illegal tobacco and report sales of it to us in confidence so we can make a real difference to help keep more illegal tobacco off the streets – we need to keep the pressure up on those who continue to sell it.”
