Illicit goods seized
Barnet Council’s Trading Standards team have seized more than £3million in hand-rolling tobacco and other products in a series of raids across the borough.
They targeted five businesses and a self-storage container across Finchley, Colindale, Edgware, West Hendon and Golders Green in what has been termed Operation CeCe. They uncovered 3.6 tonnes in tobacco leaf in 180 boxes, weighing 20kg each, which would have made at least 72,000 sellable pouches with a value of £3,121,200.
Officers also seized:
- 4,506 cigarettes, worth £65,337
- 309 pouches of hand-rolling tobacco, worth £13,395.15
- 973 vapes, worth £9,730
- 59.55kg of shisha tobacco, worth £2,976.91.
Trading Standards Officers 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 assisted by the Met Police, HMRC and helpful sniffer dogs, Dora and Skye, who are aged four and six and both springer spaniels.
Just five days later, Barnet’s Trading Standards team were back out on the beat, this time targeting an alleged organised crime group through Operation Dinar.
They busted 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
- More than £4,000 in cash.
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.”
Trading Standards and the police will be considering a full range of enforcement actions against the individuals and businesses it seized illicit products from. This includes – upon further investigation – the potential to prosecute, closure orders against problem premises, and more.
To avoid prosecution or closure orders, businesses are advised to only buy from legitimate sources and keep a secure printed invoice or receipt for all purchases. Legitimate tobacco products such as cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco come in plain packaging. Vapes are now considered to be anything reusable – which includes products that are rechargeable, refillable and those with bits, such as the coils, that can be replaced.
To report a business that you think may be operating illegally in Barnet, email trading.standards@barnet.gov.uk.