Specially trained sniffer dogs have helped to seize a haul of illegal tobacco products with a street value of £14,000 from retail premises across a city.
Tobacco dogs Griff, Cooper and Bran followed their noses and netted a haul of 1,750 packs of illegal cigarettes and 275 pouches of illegal hand-rolling tobacco.
Police and trading standards officers made the seizures, aided by their canine colleagues, from premises in Sunderland city centre, Washington and the “coalfield” towns and villages, in the Houghton-le-Spring and Hetton-le-Hole areas.
It was the result of a joint operation between Sunderland City Council’s trading standards department, the North East Regional Organised Crime Unit (NEROCU) and a tobacco search team.
A dozen premises were selected for visits based on prior intelligence.
As well as the illicit tobacco products, 235 non-compliant vapes and 30 packs of shisha tobacco were also seized during the visits.
Deputy council leader Kelly Chequer said: "Operations like this are an important part of driving illegal tobacco, and the harms that come with it, out of our city.
"It might seem like a bargain, but illegal tobacco is often linked to organised crime, helping to fuel human trafficking, the drugs trade and loan sharks.
“There's also every chance that it's either smuggled or fake.
"Smoking also kills one in two lifetime smokers and because the sale of illegal cigarettes isn't generally subject to the usual age checks, they're likely to be sold to children, getting them hooked on a lethal addiction.
"So, I would urge anyone who comes across the sale of illegal tobacco to report it so that we can take action."
Local operations under the National Op CeCe Program help to combat the illegal tobacco trade and build on strong partnership working across the agencies involved.
He said: "The aim of Operation CeCe is to tackle illicit tobacco at a local level.
“This local disruption activity, designed to protect consumers and legitimate businesses, is part of a broader strategy that tackles three ‘tiers’ of criminality, with factories abroad being shut down by HMRC and Border Force, intercepting smuggled products and cash at the border.
"In 2023-24, 19 million illicit tobacco products and 5,103kg of hand rolling tobacco (with a revenue value £11.8 million) were seized from 1,900 premises."
Further information on the reporting of illegal tobacco, is available via: https://www.sunderland.gov.uk/article/29944/Illegal-tobacco-and-tobacco-products
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Out of 13 shops visited, two sold a vape and vape refill respectively.
Investigations into these sales are on-going.
Further information about the law regarding the types of vapes able to be sold, plus how to report underage sales anonymously, can be found on: https://www.sunderland.gov.uk/underage-sales
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