More than £70,000 worth of illegal tobacco, cigarettes and disposable vapes have been seized during a major enforcement operation across Walsall.
The coordinated action took place on Monday 9 February, with Walsall Trading Standards working alongside West Midlands Police and a specialist sniffer dog team to target six retail premises across the borough.
During the operation, officers seized over 65,000 illegal cigarettes, 13kg of hand-rolling tobacco and around 700 disposable vapes. The premises were selected based on intelligence suggesting the sale of illicit goods, with illegal products discovered in three of the shops visited, as well as in two associated vehicles.
In one case, a hidden storeroom was uncovered after Griff, a trained sniffer dog, detected the presence of tobacco products. The concealed space, which contained large quantities of illegal cigarettes, tobacco and banned single-use vapes, was not visible to officers and could only be identified using specialist detection.
Officers also found illegal tobacco stored in a number of unusual locations, including inside a toilet cistern and a wastepaper bin, highlighting the lengths some traders go to in order to hide illicit goods.
The operation forms part of Operation Fearless, an ongoing multi-agency initiative involving Trading Standards, police and public health teams, aimed at disrupting the illegal tobacco trade across Walsall.
Councillor Adam Hicken, Portfolio Holder for Enforcement and Safe Communities, said:
“ Allowing this sort of crime to go on in Walsall is simply not an option. I want to thank the Trading Standards team, West Midlands Police, and of course Griff, Bran and Cooper for their hard work in sniffing out these products and getting them off our streets.
“Tobacco bought illegally is often linked to organised crime, including human trafficking, drugs and even terrorism.
“Trading Standards have taken a strong approach to this issue and will continue to use every enforcement technique available to disrupt it. I commend them for their tenacity.
“Products like these can lead to anti-social behaviour and damage our community, so removing them is vital. “
The council has warned that illegal tobacco products pose serious health risks, as they are unregulated and may contain higher levels of harmful substances. Tackling the trade also forms part of Walsall’s wider Tobacco Control Plan, which aims to reduce smoking rates, strengthen enforcement and support residents to quit.
Investigations into the supply of illegal tobacco in the borough are ongoing.