Traders selling illicit cigs have found a new place to hide them ...

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More than 90,000 cigarettes and 22.55kg of hand rolling tobacco were taken from nine businesses – including a barber shop – and two vehicles. Almost 72,000 cigarettes and over 8.5kg of hand rolling tobacco alone were found in the vehicles.

The haul from Operation Oil – which was carried out in both Kirklees and Leeds – would be worth in excess of £53,500.

But in terms of its street value it is less than half of that at just over £20,000 with a pack of 20 cigarettes being sold at about £4 and 50g of hand rolling tobacco selling at as little as £3.50.

The operation was part of a wider programme called the Tackling Illicit Tobacco for Better Health Programme which is funded by the five Public Health authorities in West Yorkshire.

The programme, which is now in its fourth year, uses marketing campaigns and enforcement raids to tackle the problems of the illicit trade.

The programme has taken more than 1.5 million illegal cigarettes and over 650kg of illegal hand rolling tobacco off West Yorkshire’s streets. More action will be taken over the coming weeks. David Lodge, Head of West Yorkshire Trading Standards, said: “All tobacco – both legal and illegal – kills half of all long-term smokers. Over time traders have gone to greater and greater lengths to conceal their stocks of illegal tobacco.

“They think that by hiding it in vehicles off the premises it will go undetected. This operation should be a lesson to illegal tobacco sellers that Trading Standards along with partner agencies will continue to work together to tackle illegal tobacco no matter where it is hidden.”

Anyone with information should contact the Illegal Tobacco Hotline on 0300 999 0000.