Northants Cops Swoop
Northamptonshire Police swooped and seized almost half a million pounds worth of illicit vapes and tobacco products in the north of the county
-
by Dave Cross
Share on:
Northamptonshire Police worked alongside Northamptonshire County Council Trading Standards officers to swoop and seize almost half a million pounds worth of illicit vapes and tobacco products in the north of the county. The announcement comes as Trading Standards departments across the country conduct operations to clamp down on the illicit vape market in the lead up to the ban on disposable vapes.
Northamptonshire Police says that more than £394,000 worth of illegal vaping and tobacco products were seized from shops in the latest joint operations between neighbourhood policing teams and partners from Trading Standards.
Inspections were carried out at 16 shops on January 10 and 11, before visits were made to a further 14 premises on March 20 and 21, as part of a clampdown on illegal sales.
“This resulted in goods worth £394,122.39 being seized over the four days of enforcements, which included 8,469 illicit vapes and 193, 811 individual cigarettes – which equates to around 9,690 packets,” a spokesperson from the force said.
In addition to these more than 1,500 packets of hand-rolling tobacco were seized during the January and March visits, along with 405 individual cigars. Investigations into the illegal sales continue.
Kettering Neighbourhood Policing Sergeant Hollie Callaghan said: “Working with our partners at Trading Standards, operations like this help us to keep our communities safe from harm in whatever form it takes.
“Some may see the sale of such products as a low-level crime, however counterfeit and illicit vapes or tobacco can pose a serious risk to health.
“They may also be sold to young people who are not legally able to buy vapes and tobacco products legitimately and can end up funding other more serious and organised crimes.
“We hope this operation demonstrates that we won’t tolerate any kind of criminal activity in our towns. Action like this wouldn’t be possible without the continued support of the public, and we encourage people to report any information or concerns to us.”
Northamptonshire Police says that anyone wishing to share intelligence or suspicions about criminal activity like this can report the non-emergency crime to 101, online at www.northants.police.uk/RO or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.
It added that reports can also be made to Trading Standards via the Citizens Advice Consumer Service on 0808 223 1133 or online contact the consumer service - Citizens Advice.
Photo Credit:
Van image by Oli Woodman on Unsplash, cropped and resized, Raid image provided by Northamptonshire Police
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.
