Walsall shopkeeper with 'blatant disregard for law' built magnetic contraption to help sell illegal cigarettes
A Walsall shopkeeper with a "blatant disregard for the law" constructed an under-the-counter storage contraption to continue selling fake cigarettes and contraband vapes after being warned they were illegal.
Ari Kerim, aged 35, was caught by Walsall Council Trading Standards officers selling fake cigarettes and rolling papers, and disposable vapes with dangerous levels of nicotine at his Gustul minimarket, Bradford Street.
Both Kerim, of Marigold Crescent, Dudley, was sentenced at Wolverhampton Crown Court. A jury found him guilty of 15 counts of selling cigarettes and vapes illegally.
In 2022 and 2023 Walsall Trading Standards officers purchased contraband cigarettes and vapes from him but despite being given warnings and fines he would continue to sell them.
He was found in breach of regulations on November 30, 2022; December 13, 2022; January 31, 2023; February 14, 2023 and May 12, 2023. More than £10,000 worth of goods were seized.
After being caught in late 2022 Kerim constructed a false counter controlled by electro-magnets where he would store his illegal wares, but during another inspection an officer saw an employee open the contraption to serve a customer.
