A large-scale multi-agency operation led by BCP Council resulted in a record seizure of illegal hand rolling tobacco, cigarettes, and vapes.
The council’s trading standards team, working closely with HM Revenue and Customs and Dorset Police, visited 12 off licences in the town centre, Wallisdown, Winton and Boscombe areas.
In total, they seized just under 32kg of illegal rolling tobacco, 145,740 cigarettes, more than 7,600 unregulated vapes and over 10kg of illicit shisha with a combined street value of around £208,000.
The visits were part of Operation CeCe and a separate targeted day of action that took place in July.
The first two targeted raids, as part of Operation CeCe, took place across two days in March at eight premises in Bournemouth town centre, Wallisdown and Winton, where 18.7kg of rolling tobacco, 89,600 illegal cigarettes, 5,165 vapes and 10.35kg of shisha were recovered, worth around £130,000.
Most of the cigarettes were located in a vehicle outside one of the premises.
In May, two more shops in the town centre were targeted, with officers seizing 6.8kg of rolling tobacco, 36,980 cigarettes and 1,279 unregulated vapes with a street value totalling £45,688.
Some of the haul was also located in nearby vehicles associated with the premises.
Following the completion of Operation CeCe, a multi-agency Day of Action saw the focus turn to Boscombe in July.
Over 6kg of hand rolling tobacco, 19,160 cigarettes and 1,170 vapes were seized at three off licences with the help of a sniffer dog.
Cllr Kieron Wilson, Portfolio Holder for Housing and Regulatory Services at BCP Council, said: “This is a big statement on how seriously the council, HM Revenue and Customs and Dorset Police take this issue.
“We’ll continue to carry out visits to premises across our community and come down hard on those breaking the law, especially with the health and safety risks that items such as these pose, particularly to the younger members of our society.
“I’d like to recognise the fantastic work of our Trading Standards Team who continue to work tirelessly across the conurbation with our partners to remove illegal tobacco products and vapes from our streets.
“Their dedication and expertise is helping make Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole safer for everyone, and this latest seizure of goods highlights how they are having to stay ahead of the different methods people are taking to hide these items in their premises.”
Sophie Sajic, Head of Public Protection at BCP Council, said: “The safety of the public is our primary focus, and we continue to work hard to remove illegal products from sale across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole.
“Disposable vapes are sold with strict guidelines on the quantities of e-liquid and nicotine they contain and must have the correct safety information.
“Aside to this, cigarettes must also self-extinguish when they are left to lower the risks of accidental house fires, and illegal products do not have any of this, which could have devastating consequences.
“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.
“Thanks to the great work of our respective teams and partners, we are now able to take positive action to investigate the offending premises further with a view to initiating prosecutions or closing them completely.”
BCP Council’s Trading Standards Team and its latest targeted operations mean that over the past 12 months a total of 16,215 illegal vapes, 245,560 cigarettes and over 67kg of hand rolling tobacco have been removed from sale across BCP worth £395,673.
Further targeted operations are now planned at premises across our three towns over the coming months.