Illegal vapes and tobacco worth £200k found in raids in Bournemouth

Bournemouth council's trading standards team visited 12 sites Credit: BCP Council

£208,000 pounds of illegal tobacco, cigarettes and vapes has been seized from off licenses across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole.

The council's trading standards team visited 12 sites as part of operation CeCe.

In total they found 32 kgs of illegal rolling tobacco, more than 145,000 cigarettes, over 7,600 unregulated vapes and over 10 kgs of illicit shisha.

More targeted operations will take place over the next few months.

More targeted operations will take place over the next few months Credit: BCP Council

Cllr Kieron Wilson, Portfolio Holder for Housing and Regulatory Services at BCP Council, says: "This is a big statement on how seriously the Council, HM Revenue and Customs and Dorset Police take this issue.

"We’ll continue to carry out visits to premises across our community and come down hard on those breaking the law, especially with the health and safety risks that items such as these pose, particularly to the younger members of our society."

Sophie Sajic, Head of Public Protection at BCP Council, says: "The safety of the public is our primary focus, and we continue to work hard to remove illegal products from sale across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole.

"Disposable vapes are sold with strict guidelines on the quantities of e-liquid and nicotine they contain and must have the correct safety information.

"Aside to this, cigarettes must also self-extinguish when they are left to lower the risks of accidental house fires, and illegal products do not have any of this, which could have devastating consequences.

"This latest seizure not only highlights the vast quantities of illegal tobacco, cigarettes and vapes coming into our communities for sale, but also the sophisticated lengths individuals are taking to conceal them and avoid detection.

"Over the past few months, we’ve uncovered hidden storage rooms disguised as walls and shelves on shop floors secured by electro-magnets, where in some cases, they have been laced with coffee grounds and onions in a bid to confuse and outsmart tobacco detection dogs when a premises is searched.

"Thanks to the great work of our respective teams and partners, we are now able to take positive action to investigate the offending premises further with a view to initiating prosecutions or closing them completely."

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