ELEVEN shops in Middlesbrough were caught selling illicit cigarettes during an hour-long undercover operation, revealing how widely available contraband and counterfeit cigarettes are in the town.
Dozens of packets of illicit cigarettes were bought from shops on Monday and Tuesday, including stores on Parliament Road, Gresham Road and Victoria Road.
A team of investigators who work with Philip Morris, who own cigarette brands such as Marlboro and L&M travel across the country to conduct a series of undercover test purchases.
The operation first began in 2011.
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This week Will O' Reilly, the expert investigator and his team were in Teesside and collected 32 packets of illicit cigarettes during the two-day investigation.
Will is a former Scotland Yard detective and an expert on the illicit tobacco trade.
The Echo joined Will and his team visiting corner shops around the town centre. In just one hour, we went into 11 shops, every one of which sold contraband or counterfeit packets with very little questioning.
The illicit cigarettes ranged from costing £5 to £9 - often stored in a back room or in a car outside.
And it's not just shops that are the problem, illicit cigarettes are being sold in pubs, homes and online too.
Counterfeit and contraband tobacco now makes up 34 per cent of all cigarettes smoked in the North East, and it's not hard to get a hold of, as we experienced in one hour not one shop we tried turned us away.
Will said: "Online is not as much a problem in this area. When there's a close community they have their own customers. It's very difficult to get into that in short notice - we have done it in the past as strangers coming in.
"Some of the shops - for us strangers coming in it doesn't always work."
If cigarettes are purchased by the team they are either taken back to Philip Morris headquarters for research or are turned over to the police and Trading Standards.
It is then in the Trading Standards and police's hands whether to raid the shops, pubs or homes or take other action.
Philip Morris works in tackling illicit products, not only tobacco, as illicit industries are all woven together and they support work against other products too, goes on across the world, but in the UK specifically.
A spokesperson for Philip Morris, said: "We are playing our part in helping to protect consumers, our business and retailers of legitimate products."
Having teams out on the ground acts as a deterrent to those selling illicit products – the fact that they know people are out there clamping down.
With an average packet of cigarettes costing between £12 and £13 the illicit trade is driven by price.
However, Philip Morris are offering alternative products, like heated tobacco devices including IQOS.
Illicit cigarettes often lack the flame retardant ring that ensures cigarettes don't keep burning - meaning people putting their homes at risk.
Will said that disgusting contaminants have often been found in illicit cigarette ‘factories’ – including rat droppings and human faeces.
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