Huge haul of fake cigarettes seized in Staffordshire
Fake cigarettes worth around £75,000 and booze sold illegally were seized in Staffordshire over the last year.
Staffordshire County Council's trading standards team, who recovered the cigarettes from across the region, received a £35,000 government grant to crack down on the problem.
The team seized more than 150,000 of the cigarettes, which could contain dangerous chemicals.
An operation between April 2015 and last month saw the cigarettes and almost 50kg of hand rolling tobacco, 100 litres of illicit vodka, 500 bottles and 265 cans of illegal alcohol removed from sale at an off licence, which didn't have an alcohol permit and four licence reviews undertaken.
And two £20,000 fines were dished out by Immigration Enforcement for businesses who were employing illegal workers.
The county council will receive government funding again for the upcoming year to help continue its crackdown.
County council trading standards chief, Gill Heath, said: "Our anti-counterfeiting operation over the last 12 months has been a real success.
"As a result of this work, the team here has been awarded proceeds of crime funding – meaning money confiscated from criminals was used directly to combat crime.
"We can therefore use our resources in other areas.
"We want people to understand the real harm illicit tobacco has on people's health.
"It is unregulated and often contains higher tar levels and hazardous substances and we know its sale funds organised crime.
"I am pleased to say the proceeds of crime funding will continue into 2016/17."
The council's team uncovered more than 110,000 cigarettes and almost 30kg of tobacco during 2014/15.
The tobacco products can contain heavy metals, cyanide, plastic and rat droppings among other dangerous ingredients.
In the UK, it is estimated that about one in 10 of all cigarettes and half of all hand-rolling tobacco are not duty paid.
Illegal cigarettes pose a serious risk to health and safety as there is often no control on their content or quality.
Last year the Express & Star exposed the scale of the illegal tobacco trade in the Black Country, where investigators visited dozens of local shops and found 25 out of 27 were prepared to sell cheap and untaxed cigarettes and counterfeit tobacco.
One expert said smoking one of these cigarettes was as harmful as smoking 10 normal filter tips.
People with any information about illicit tobacco, or other goods, can contact Staffordshire's Fight the Fakes hotline on 01785 330356.
