Illegal vapes and tobacco worth £200k found in raids

More than £200,000 worth of illegal tobacco, cigarettes and vapes has been seized in raids at off licenses in Bournemouth.

Twelve off licenses in the town centre, Wallisdown, Winton and Boscombe were visited during searches in March, May and July.

BCP Council, which has been leading the operation, said Trading Standards officers and sniffer dogs had discovered concealed store rooms and disguised cabinets.

It said further searches were planned across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole in the coming months.

Trading Standards officers, working with Dorset Police and HM Revenue and Customs, seized just under 32kg of illegal rolling tobacco, 145,740 cigarettes, more than 7,600 unregulated vapes and more than 10kg of illicit shisha with a combined street value of £208,000.

In the most recent raids in Boscombe, more than 6kg tobacco, 19,160 cigarettes and 1,170 vapes were seized at three off licences with the help of a sniffer dog.

Sophie Sajic, BCP Council's head of public protection, said: "This latest seizure not only highlights the vast quantities of illegal tobacco, cigarettes and vapes coming into our communities for sale, but also the sophisticated lengths individuals are taking to conceal them and avoid detection.

"Over the past few months, we've uncovered hidden storage rooms disguised as walls and shelves on shop floors secured by electro-magnets, where in some cases, they have been laced with coffee grounds and onions in a bid to confuse and outsmart tobacco detection dogs when a premises is searched."

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