Over £100,000 of illicit tobacco, vapes seized from Lincolnshire stores

Over £100,000 of illicit tobacco, vapes seized from Lincolnshire stores More than 90,000 cigarettes, 20 kilograms of tobacco and 4800 illegal vapes were seized by North East Lincolnshire Council’s Trading Standards Team during a partnership operation. Joined by Humberside Police and a specialist dog unit, officers visited several shops on Pasture Street and Cross Coates Road in Grimsby and Cross Street and High Street in Cleethorpes. During the raid, a number of the shops were found to have complex hidden storage areas, only accessible by triggering an electromagnet switch which were forced open by officers following their discovery by search dogs Cooper, Griff and Bran. The raids were part of ongoing intelligence-led operation targeting counterfeit and illicit cigarettes, tobacco and illegal disposable vape dealers Operation CeCe and Operation Joseph.These are joint ventures between National Trading Standards and HMRC targeting the illegal supply of oversized, disposable vaping bars.