Sniffer dog Dixie has uncovered thousands of illegal cigarettes being sold in shops across Bury.
The black labrador, provided by Wagtail UK, joined teams from Bury Council in a number of raids as part of Operation CeCe, a national trading standards initiative in partnership with HMRC to tackle illegal tobacco.
Together they sniffed out 3,260 illegal cigarettes, 3.8kg of illegal hand rolling tobacco and 2,232 illegal vapes at seven premises across the borough – some had been concealed in secret compartments.
All illegal items were confiscated, and criminal investigations are continuing – and enforcement officers say further action is planned.
Ben Thomson, Bury Council’s head of public protection, said: “We visited these shops with Dixie after receiving intelligence that illegal tobacco was being sold ‘under the counter’. These detection dogs can find tobacco and cigarettes even when they are hidden in the most unlikely places.
“If you know where cheap tobacco is being sold, often as ‘duty free’, please get in touch. We will take action wherever and whenever we find illegal tobacco for sale.”
Councillor Charlotte Morris, cabinet member for culture and the economy, added: “This is great work by our teams at the council and the police. Tobacco bought on the illegal market is likely to be the result of organised criminal activity with links to human trafficking, the drugs trade and loan sharks, bringing crime into our communities and exploiting vulnerable people.
“As well as its links to crime, we know illegal tobacco is how many children start smoking and cheaper prices undermine smokers’ attempts to quit. Further action is planned in borough and we’ll be bringing these fantastic sniffer dogs with us to hunt out these products, no matter how well hidden. The council will also be looking at the licences of the premises caught selling illegal tobacco.”
Andrea Crossfield, Making Smoking History lead at the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership, said: “Illegal tobacco might seem like a bargain but it comes at a high price to our kids and our communities. Legal or illegal, all tobacco contains a toxic cocktail of chemicals which will kill one in two long-term smokers. Illegal cigarettes are often responsible for getting children started on this lethal addiction, because of their availability at pocket money prices and because dealers don’t care who they sell to. The crackdown on illegal tobacco is part of wider efforts to cut smoking rates and make smoking history for future generations.”
Lord Michael Bichard, chair of National Trading Standards, said: “The trade in illegal tobacco harms local communities and affects honest businesses operating within the law. Having removed 21 million illegal cigarettes, 5,800kg of hand rolling tobacco and almost 175kg of shisha products from sale, the National Trading Standards initiative in partnership with HMRC continues to successfully disrupt this illicit trade.”
The Keep it Out campaign, which reveals the true cost of ‘cheap’ illegal tobacco, including links to organised crime and the devastating impact smoking has on people’s health, is being run by the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership, in collaboration with Local Authority Trading Standards and enforcement partners in the North. To find out more, visit keep-it-out.co.uk The sale of illegal tobacco can be reported anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or at keep-it-out.co.uk.
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