Officers seize more than £3million of illegal cigarettes, vapes and tobacco in north London shop raids
Trading Standards officers have seized more than £3million worth of illegal tobacco products in a series of raids across north London.
The council’s team uncovered tonnes of cigarettes, hand-rolling tobacco, vapes, and shisha tobacco in what has been termed Operation CeCe.
The raids targeted five businesses and a self-storage container across Finchley, Colindale, Edgware, West Hendon and Golders Green.
Officers uncovered 3.6 tonnes of tobacco leaf in 180 boxes, weighing 20 kilos each, which would have made at least 72,000 sellable pouches with a value of £3,121,200.
Barnet Council officers also seized 4,506 cigarettes worth £65,337, 309 pouches of hand-rolling tobacco worth £13,395.15, 973 vapes worth £9,730 and 59.55 kilos of shisha tobacco worth £2,976.91.
They found products behind hidden doors, in two vehicles, in a safe, and in a huge self-storage container near one of the premises.
They were joined by the Met Police and HMRC officials on their raids.
The team were completed by sniffer dogs, Dora and Skye, who aged four and six and both springer spaniels.
As part of Operation CeCe, officers found 3.6 tonnes of tobacco leaf in 180 boxes, weighing 20 kilos each, which would have made at least 72,000 sellable pouches - with a value of £3,121,200
Five businesses and a self-storage container across Finchley, Colindale, Edgware, West Hendon and Golders Green, were targeted as part of Operation CeCe
They uncovered products behind hidden doors, in two vehicles, in a safe, and in a huge self-storage container near one of the premises
The search team were completed by sniffer dogs, Dora and Skye, who aged four and six and both springer spaniels
Five days later, Barnet's Trading Standards team seized 1,621 cigarettes, 2,435 vapes, 59 pouches of hand-rolling tobacco, and 1 kilo of shisha, adding to a total worth of £50,462.14 plus more than £4,000 in cash through Operation Dinar
Cllr Barry Rawlings, Leader of Barnet Council said: 'This work is important. Our Trading Standards Officers covertly inspect businesses on a regular basis to ensure they’re trading fairly and within the law
Two suspects were then taken into police custody, as part of Operation Dina
Cllr Barry Rawlings, Leader of Barnet Council and Cabinet Member for Strategic Partnerships, Economy and Effective Council, said: 'This work is important. Our Trading Standards Officers covertly inspect businesses on a regular basis to ensure they’re trading fairly and within the law.
'We take the health and wellbeing of our residents extremely seriously, and businesses should not be profiteering on the black market by selling products that will cause them harm.'
Five days later, Barnet’s Trading Standards team continued momentum, targeting an alleged organised crime group through Operation Dinar.
They infiltrated a smoking store in Hendon and a shop linked to it in Tottenham, using information gathered during a previous Operation CeCe that happened back in September.
They also targeted the Haringey and Ealing home addresses of two suspects, who were then taken into police custody, during the four simultaneous raids on Tuesday this week.
The team seized 1,621 cigarettes worth £23,504.50, 2,435 vapes worth £24,350, 59 pouches of hand-rolling tobacco worth £2,557.65, 1kg of shisha worth £49.99 and more than £4,000 in cash.
