Raids uncover 10,000 litres of illegal booze in three days

The haul of mainly beer and wine was seized from corner shops and convenience stores in a series of raids.

More than 50 officers from HM Revenue and Customs teamed up with trading standards officers in each area, targeting 24 shops.

The duty and VAT evaded by the illegal trade is estimated at £20,000. A van used to transport some of the alcohol was also seized.

The success of the raids was welcomed by senior chiefs at Wolverhampton and Dudley councils.

Deborah Woodcock, assistant director at HM Revenue and Customs, said: "This is theft from the taxpayer and undermines legitimate traders."

In total, some 10,638 litres of alcohol, all believed to be illicit, was seized. This included 13 litres of spirits, 1,580 litres of wine and 18,100 cans of beer. Of the 24 premises visited, illegal drink was found at 18.

The raids were part of HMRC's ongoing alcohol taskforce campaign, launched in 2011.

Councillor Rachel Harris, Cabinet member responsible for trading standards at Dudley Council said: "Through joint operations with partners and our own investigations we are working hard to stop the sale of illegal alcohol across our borough.

"We want to give a clear message out to potential offenders that it is not okay to cheat the system and we will do all we can to make sure people don't get away with it."

Councillor Steve Evans, Wolverhampton Council's Cabinet member for city environment, said the authority had already made gains in crackdowns on the sale of illegal cigarettes.

"Our trading standards team regularly work with HMRC to tackle the trade in illicit alcohol and tobacco," he said.

"By teaming up with partners like HMRC, we have seized more than 500,000 illicit cigarettes here in Wolverhampton."

The raids took place last Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Also targeted were shops in Worcester, Telford, Stoke and Coventry.

Deborah Woodcock told how the customs and revenue department regularly worked with local trading standards offices, the Food Standards Agency and the police to slow down and stop the sale of illegal booze.

"Disrupting criminal trade is at the heart of our strategy to clampdown on the illicit alcohol market," she said.

In the last six years, customs officers have seized 50 million litres of illicit alcohol with a duty value of £106m, and fined offenders a total of £84m.

Anyone with information about the illegal sale of alcohol is asked to contact the Customs Hotline on 0800 59 5000.