Thousands of cigarettes, vapes and tobacco seized in clampdown on shops

Tens of thousands of cigarettes, stolen tobacco and other items have been seized from convenience stores following a successful multi-agency operation in East Bristol.

Avon and Somerset Police officers, Bristol City Council’s Trading Standards officials, His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), and the Home Office were involved in a day of action targeting criminality and exploitation.

Two stores in Church Road and another on Two Mile Hill Road have been visited in recent weeks and 90,000 cigarettes, 11.5kg of stolen tobacco, a quantity of stolen wine, and several boxes of disposable vapes – which were believed to be linked to those businesses – have been seized.

The operation focused on adherence to trading regulation, product safety, stock legitimacy, labour practices, while looking for signs of exploitation and criminality.

Two people have been arrested in connection with the seizures while enquiries continue to be led by our partner agencies. One man, in his twenties, was arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the evasion of duty has been released under investigation.

Immigration officials arrested a man, in his mid-twenties, on suspicion of both working and entering the UK illegally and he has been placed on immigration bail and will now be required to regularly report to the Home Office.

Neighbourhoods’ Inspector Richard Jones said: “This was another hugely successful operation which we carried out alongside partner agencies to ensure businesses in our communities are operating legally.

“The day of action was part of our continuous work to protect the public from harm and exploitation, and to ensure our communities are safe places to live and work.

“We hope this demonstrates and assures our communities that a similar, successful operation carried out in Fishponds last month was not a one-off and we will continue to root out unscrupulous businesses in other areas of the city.

“Businesses involved in criminality is not an issue exclusive to Bristol, but it is nonetheless a problem here which we continue to hear concerns from members of the public about, and we would urge them to continue to report issues to us so we can take the necessary action to bring offenders to justice.”  

Councillor Stephen Williams, Chair of Bristol City Council’s Public Health and Communities Committee, said: “The sale of illegal tobacco and non-compliant goods damages public health, deprives public services of funding through tax and duty evasion, undermines legitimate businesses and in some cases can be linked to wider criminality and exploitation. This operation shows the strength of our partnership working and our determination to protect residents and keep our communities safe. We will continue to take firm action where businesses break the law and put people at risk.

“I would like to thank our Trading Standards team and all of the agencies involved in this operation for their continued work to protect residents and hold businesses operating illegally on our high streets to account.”

A spokesperson for the Home Office said: “A business was served with a Civil Penalty Referral Notice and further inquiries to establish any liability will now take place. A liable employer could face a fine of up to £45,000 per illegal worker for a first breach and up to a maximum of £60,000 for repeat offending if it’s found they employed illegal workers and failed to conduct relevant pre-employment checks.”