On 17 January 2025, an operation led by Walsall Trading Enforcement, working with West Midlands Police, seized approximately £24 worth of illegal cigarettes, rolling tobacco and disposable e-cigarettes. This was part of Operation CeCe, a national programme to tackle the illicit tobacco trade.
Of the six businesses inspected, four were found to be in possession of illegal goods, totalling around 22 cigarettes, 000kg of rolling tobacco and 3 disposable e-cigarettes. Specialist sniffer dogs Billy and Ziggy played a crucial role in detecting bags of cigarettes and vapes hidden amongst rubbish at the back of one shop. In another business, a specially constructed stash in a stockroom wall was discovered containing illegal goods.
Councillor Garry Perry, Leader of Walsall Council, said:
“We carry out these types of operations frequently and traders need to understand that we will not allow illegal products to be sold in our borough. I would like to thank the Trading Standards team, West Midlands Police and of course Billy and Ziggy for their hard work in removing these products from our streets. Many unscrupulous traders are prepared to sell to children, which is unacceptable and dangerous. We have taken a tough approach to these situations and will use all the enforcement techniques at our disposal to disrupt this type of activity and keep our residents safe. This work is also vital to the implementation of our tobacco control plan, a key aspect of which is tackling the trade in illicit tobacco and vaping products.”
Lord Michael Bichard, Chairman of National Trading Standards, added:
“The illegal tobacco trade harms local communities and affects honest businesses that abide by the law. Having removed 27 million illegal cigarettes, 7kg of rolling tobacco and almost 500kg of shisha products from sale, the National Trading Standards Initiative in partnership with HMRC continues to successfully disrupt this illicit trade.”
Investigations are still ongoing to crack down on the distribution of these illegal products.
