Hackney has joined forces with five London councils and HMRC to crack down on businesses selling illegal tobacco and alcohol.
Working in partnership with Islington, Camden, Enfield, Newham and Waltham Forest councils, and officers from HMRC, ‘Operation Shona’ helped to identify 41 businesses across the six boroughs selling illegal and counterfeit goods.
The premises included a barber shop, a kebab shop and an internet café, along with off licenses and corner shops, which were visited by officers after intelligence of criminal activity was gathered. Some of the visits involved trained sniffer dogs to improve detection rates.
Seizures from the premises included:
- 41,452 cigarettes (2,073 packs)
- 11.9kg hand-rolling tobacco (238 x 50g pouches)
- 9kg of chewing tobacco and shisha tobacco
- Over 200 litres of spirits; 520 litres of wine; and 1,100 litres of beer.
Altogether, 68 premises received a visit from officers over the four days of Operation Shona in April and September. All goods were non-UK duty paid, and a small amount was counterfeit or fake.
Five premises were inspected in Hackney to see if they supplied illegal tobacco and alcohol. Three premises were found with illegal products:
- Premises 1: Non-duty paid alcohol seized, 5 x 1 litre Glen’s vodka 1 litre Smirnoff vodka, 77 x 70cl Smirnoff vodka and 2 x 70cl Famous Grouse whisky
- Premises 2: Non-duty paid alcohol and cigarettes seized, including six bottles of alcohol seized, 180 packets of Marlborough Gold king-size, 260 packets of Marlborough Gold original, and 60 packets of Marlborough Red
- Premises 3: Non-duty paid tobacco seized, including 17 packets of Golden Virginia and 2 packets of Amber Leaf 50g
Premises 2 has subsequently closed and further investigations are being carried out on the other two premises with a possible view to enforcement action.
Cllr Caroline Sellman, Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Enforcement, said: “Selling illegal tobacco is not a victimless crime – as well as depriving the community of funding for much needed public services, it exposes residents to the potential health consequences of unregulated tobacco products. All tobacco is harmful, but consumers have no way of knowing how dangerous these products are. I’m also concerned about cheap cigarettes being made available to children, potentially leading to a lifetime of addiction and serious health problems. Operation Shona is a fantastic example of partnership working across London boroughs to stamp this out. I’m hoping to see many more operations like this with fellow boroughs and the HMRC in the months to come.”