Illegal tobacco seized in Torbay

Links to organised crime

Torbay is emerging as the West Country hot spot for illegal tobacco trading with links to organised crime.

Three shops in Paignton and one in Torquay have recently been shut down by police and trading standards officers.

Another in Torquay has had its alcohol licence revoked after Torbay Council heard how large quantities of illegal tobacco and vapes had been found in a flat upstairs.

Now trading standards officers have pledged to keep up their fight against the rogue traders, even though the chances of a successful prosecution are slim.

Trading standards officer Melanie Walker told a council meeting: “There is no other location that has as many premises involved in the illegal sale of tobacco as Torbay.”

She said the racket had links to organised crime, modern slavery and even the trade in guns and drugs. 

“It’s not just buying a cheap packet of fags from a local store,” she said. “The organised crime involvement is significant.”

Counterfeit tobacco, she said, sold for as little as £5 per pouch, compared to £35 in supermarkets. Illegal cigarettes cost £5 a pack compared to £15 in legitimate stores.

Fake brands with names like ‘Top Gun’ and ‘Manchester’ are manufactured in huge quantities overseas in places including Belarus and Dubai.

With no regulation of the products that mimic legitimate brands, there is no way of telling what is in them. Fakes also lack the ‘self-extinguishing’ features which stop a cigarette continuing to burn if the smoker falls asleep, which has been the cause of a number of house fires.

Trading standards officers, often working alongside police with detection dogs, find stashes of fake cigarettes, tobacco and vapes in hidden compartments behind walls and under floorboards.

Torbay Council’s deputy leader Chris Lewis (Con, Preston) said during a recent licensing hearing that Torbay’s reputation as one of the worst areas was worrying, and asked why there were so few prosecutions.

Ms Walker said it was down to the ‘sheer volume’ of illicit tobacco cases being detected.

“Prosecuting offenders involves considerable delays,” she said. “And when we do get them to court the sentences are just not sufficient.

“We are trying to go more down the route of disruption, seeking the closure of shops and seizing their cash and assets.

“We just don’t have the capacity to take every illegal tobacco case to prosecution, as much as we would like to.”

The four shut-down shops in Torbay are the American Shop in Union Street, Torquay; the Palace Mini Market in Palace Avenue, Paignton; Tower Store in Torquay Road, Paignton and Paignton Express in Victoria Street, Paignton.

The closure order made by Plymouth magistrates lasts for three months, but can be extended.

Inspector Rob Harvey of Torquay police said: “This was a significant step to get four commercial premises closed on the same day by the court and sends a strong message to businesses that we will not tolerate illegal sales which could harm the public’s health.”

Alex Fry, Heart of the South West Trading Standards operations manager, said the shops all hid the fake products and two of them had specially-built hiding places for them.

A total of 29 closure orders for commercial and residential properties have been served across Torquay, Newton Abbot, Exeter and the rest of South Devon in the last 12 months.

Councillor Hayley Tranter, who is Torbay Council’s cabinet member for public health, added: “The products being sold are not just illegal, they’re also extremely dangerous to people’s health.

“Rogue businesses should be under no illusion that if they continue to undermine the work of honest traders we will come after them with the full force of the law.”