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Sniffer dogs help find over ONE MILLION illegal cigarettes in Coventry

Sniffer dog Phoebe who assists Coventry Trading Standards
Specialist sniffer dog Phoebe

More than ONE MILLION illegal cigarettes were seized in Coventry by Trading Standards during a single year.

Officers also laid their hands on 170kg - over 26 stone - of hand rolling tobacco as they swooped on shops, cars and houses across the city.

Many of the cigarettes and tobacco packs, which had been counterfeit or smuggled to avoid tax, were found hidden inside sophisticated hiding places that could only be found by specialist sniffer dogs.

Some of the secret compartments could only be opened by remote control and were built into shop counters or operated a lift mechanism built into the floor or walls.

It is estimated that the confiscated goods would have had a street value of around £245,000.

The huge haul was confiscated between April 2016 and March this year as Coventry Trading Standards conducted 148 visits to various shops across the city.

Seizures also occurred from cars, vans and private houses, which are often used to store the illegal tobacco.

Allan Harwood, Coventry City Council’s Trading Standards and Consumer Protection Manager, said: “The level of seizures reflect the efforts we are putting in to stop the illicit trade in counterfeit and smuggled tobacco.

Read more at the Coventry Telegraph. http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/over-one-million-illegal-cigarettes-13015793

 

 

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