£1.4m worth of counterfeit goods including cigarettes and vapes seized in biggest Walsall haul
Fake designer clothes, cigarettes and vapes worth £1.4 million have been seized in the largest ever illegal goods haul in Walsall.
The goods were confiscated when officers initially visited two unnamed retail premises where sniffer dogs located illegal cigarettes, tobacco and vapes, some hidden in a sophisticated manner including in a ceiling compartment. The raids were carried out as part of Operation CeCe - a national crackdown on illicit tobacco and vapes.
The officers then moved on to a self-storage yard in Walsall, where sniffer dogs Griff and Cooper alerted officers to four suspicious containers. Two of the units were found to be filled with more than 9,000 illegal vapes and a large amount of counterfeit designer goods, including clothing, perfumes, watches and footwear. The remaining containers also contained illegal products concealed among legitimate stock.
In total more than 1,200 items of fake clothing were seized including imitations of high-end brands such as Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Boss, Tag Heuer, Off-White and Balenciaga. The goods were likely to be offered for sale on online.
Walsall Council said that if genuine the seized goods would have an estimated retail value of around £1.4m, making it the largest ever seizure by Walsall Trading Standards.
The borough's enforcement and communities chief Councillor Adam Hicken said: “This is a serious result and sends a clear message that Walsall will not tolerate illegal trading. Thanks to the hard work of all involved, a significant amount of dangerous and counterfeit good will never see the light of day.
“In Walsall, we are bringing back the force into enforcement, and we won’t stop in our mission to make our home safe, vibrant and clean.
“These counterfeit and illegal products don’t just threaten consumer safety - they damage legitimate local businesses and help fund organised crime.
“I want to thank our trading standards team and partners for their relentless work to protect residents.”
Lord Michael Bichard, National Trading Standards chair, said: “The illicit tobacco trade is driven by organised criminal gangs and poses serious risks to local communities, especially young people.
“Since its launch in January 2021, Operation CeCe in partnership with HMRC has removed 69m illegal cigarettes; 19,750kg of hand-rolling tobacco and almost 175kg of shisha products from sale, helping to clamp down on this illicit trade and protect communities and honest businesses.”
The items seized in the Walsall operation have been taken to secure storage while investigations continue.
