Rotherham raids uncover illegal cigarettes

The Advertiser accompanied trading standards, food and immigration officers as they swooped on the shops on Wednesday morning backed up by police and sniffer dogs.

The teams also uncovered 6kg of rolling tobacco and ten bottles of vodka which were counterfeit, smuggled or outlawed brands.

Alan Pogorzelec, business regulation manager at Rotherham Borough Council, oversaw the raids.

“These operations were the culmination of three months’ planning, including test purchases by undercover staff to establish which premises were selling illicit goods,” he said.

“We were sure that these particular shops were stocking them, so we got a magistrates’ warrant to search each one.”

We have agreed not to name individual shops or shopkeepers while investigations are ongoing.

Sniffer dogs found counterfeit cigarettes and tobacco hidden under the counter at one Clifton store.

A shop assistant gave border agents a false name before escaping over a back fence, leading them to suspect that he is in the UK illegally.

Officers raiding a nearby shop found hundreds of tobacco packets in boxes and bags stashed in a bathroom.

Ten bottles of vodka were confiscated because food standards officers believed them to be counterfeit, avoiding UK taxes.

The haul also included outlawed Jing Lin cigarettes, which originate in Latvia and have been known to contain asbestos and animal faeces.

“Rotherham isn’t unusual in that it has shops selling this tobacco,” said Alan.

“But we do see more people buying it as it becomes more overtly available.”

Another shopkeeper denied that he had sold the smuggled cigs, insisting that he had only given them away to his friends.

Fines for selling counterfeit, smuggled or dangerous cigarettes can be in the thousands of pounds.

Shopkeepers found selling them are likely to have their alcohol licences revoked and also run the risk of up to two years in prison.

“There’s a perception that this is just low-level crime,” said Alan. “But some of the people supplying these cigarettes are also involved in the import and sale of hard drugs.

“The message has to be: ‘Don’t buy them.’ You’re supporting people you really don’t want to support and you’re smoking a very dangerous product.”