Dogs help uncover illegal tobacco and vapes in Kent

• Tap to watch video report by ITV Meridian's Joe Coshan

One of the biggest ever operations to disrupt the supply of illegal tobacco products in Kent has taken place across Maidstone, Sittingbourne and Dover.

Kent Trading Standards, working with Kent Police officers, HMRC, and with assistance from Griff, Bran and Maggie, specially trained tobacco and cash detection dogs, carried out inspections at five retail stores in the three towns.

The teams seized 163 vapes, 153,200 cigarettes, 75.5kg of hand-rolling tobacco, and 160 packets of shisha, all of which were illegal.

Additionally, £10,000 cash was seized from a shop in Maidstone.

The illegal stock had been concealed in sophisticated hides, including a tunnel that officers had to crawl through to locate a stash of illicit tobacco products.

James Whiddett, Operations Manager for Kent Trading Standards, said “This was a highly successful operation. Our staff, working alongside partner agencies, maximized the effectiveness of the day by targeting illegal tobacco and vapes.

"When you look at the genuine retail price of these products, they should be what, £12 a packet. They're being sold for £4 for £5 each. So that's a huge amount of money that's been taken from the illegal gangs that are operating at these premises.

“Our teams also found 163 vapes, one of which has 9000 puffs. The legal limit at the moment is to have a two miligram tank, which gives you about 600 puffs, so this is huge and you don’t know what’s in them.”

Illicit tobacco is a national issue and causes major detriment to legitimate business in towns and cities around the country. This tobacco is rarely just a single issue, but often has links to other criminality such as anti-social behaviour, money laundering, modern slavery, child exploitation and drugs.

James Whiddett continued “These shops all follow the same model of purporting to be a small food retailer, with large quantities of bulky, cheap items filling it up.

“The items are rarely purchased by customers, but just used as a front for selling large quantities of tobacco or vapes. In most of these shops, there are no attempts made to conceal the illicit tobacco, leaving it largely on display, or under the counter.

“It’s believed that these shops are making thousands of pounds per week from selling this illegal tobacco. The shops are generally cash only businesses, which is then used to fund other criminality and deprives the local economy of legitimate income.

“It’s showing that there is more organised crime involved in this because it's an expensive hide and that's why we need the tobacco detection dogs.

"When we walk into a shop and look around. I'll think that just looks like a kitchen cupboard or something. So when the dog indicates and you end up with officers crawling through under a sink to find a hidden stairway and a room full of tobacco, we wouldn't find that if it wasn't for the dog.”

Kent Police Superintendent Pete Steenhuis said, “By supporting and working with other agencies in operations like this, the impact we can have on disrupting criminality is far greater. The results this time and the discovery of illegal goods in a concealed room just shows the lengths offenders will go to.

“The sale of illicit tobacco and vapes is often connected to the running and financing of organised criminal groups so it is important to stamp out this illegal trade. If left to thrive, it could result in increased criminal activity and associated issues for the wider community.

“If people have any concerns or information that something similar is operating in their neighbourhood I encourage them to report it and help stop the criminals.”

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know...