Thousands of cigs seized in town raid

THOUSANDS of cheap, illegal cigarettes and hand rolling tobacco were seized during raids on supermarkets and corner shops in Nuneaton.

While keeping the names of the locations under-wraps, Warwickshire Trading Standards officers have revealed that there are probes into four different stores in the town.

It follows a series of swoops which led to specialist tobacco sniffer dogs finding 2,580 cigarettes and 800g of hand rolling tobacco in the quartet of supermarkets and corner shops

A spokesperson for the county council team, who worked with police and border force officers on the operation, simply said: “Investigations are on-going.”

The raids across the town were part of a wider operation across the county for counterfeit and non-duty paid cigarettes and tobacco hidden in corner shops, mini supermarkets and parked vehicles in Atherstone, Rugby, Leamington Spa and Stratford upon Avon.

Officers used local intelligence to identify shops where cheap illegal cigarettes were being sold and it led to almost 15,000 cigarettes and over 9kg of hand rolling tobacco being seized.

Warwickshire County Councillor Andy Crump, cabinet member for community safety, said: “The sellers of cheap illegal cigarettes don’t care who they sell to, making it easier for children and young people to obtain cigarettes and get hooked on smoking and making it harder for adults to quit.”

“Cheap illegal tobacco also threatens the livelihoods of honest genuine businesses and robs the taxpayer of money that could be spent on schools and hospitals.”

“I’m delighted that Warwickshire County Council is working closely with its partners and other agencies to tackle this issue in order to keep Warwickshire residents safe and healthy.”