Council seizes £10k of illegal tobacco in enforcement action

Residents helping stop dangerous illegal tobacco sales

19/05/2021

A sniffer dog looks at some seized tobacco products in some bags

Last week, Southampton Council’s Trading Standards and Parking Fraud officers, with the assistance of two Police Community Support Officers and aided by two sniffer dogs from Wagtail, seized £10,000 worth of illegal tobacco at 5 shops and 2 vehicles in Shirley, St Marys and Woolston.

Another dog with it's paws on the shoulders of a kneeling man, they are looking at each other

This seizure adds to £10,000 worth of illegal tobacco seized in March and £13,000 worth seized in February.

Dr Debbie Chase, Director of Public Health, Southampton City Council, said: “I'm pleased to see that that more people are alert to the dangers of illegal tobacco and are assisting our officers to confiscate it. We all know that tobacco is harmful to our health and addictive. Buying illegal tobacco only helps encourage more criminal behaviour, including tax evasion."

To complain about illegal tobacco traders anonymously, call the Stop Illegal Tobacco hotline on 0300 999 6 999 or visit their website.

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