WITH two high-profile cases exposing the big problem of fake and illegal cigarettes being sold in the county, LISA JONES spoke to a Trading Standards officer about they are cracking down on the black market.
IT'S a scam carried out by a number of shopkeepers in order to cash in on the black market in fake and illegal cigarettes.
But the 'under the counter' sale of these cigarettes not only deprives the Treasury of funds, it leaves the purchaser with a considerably more toxic type of tobacco than they might imagine.
Rob Cardew, enforcement officer for Gloucestershire County Council, is part of a Trading Standards team responsible for securing the convictions of five people for selling fake or illegal cigarettes.
His team brought two Cheltenham shopkeepers Bakhttar Abdulah Ali and Mohammed Sedoo to justice when they were caught selling dodgy cigarettes.
The tally from seizures so far this year is 2,000 packets of cigarettes and 70kg of rolling tobacco.
And Rob said that these cigarettes and tobacco are likely to lead to more health problems than the real thing, due to the unregulated contents.
He said cigarettes dubbed 'cheap whites', often known as the Jin Ling brand are made specifically to smuggle into the UK, are one of the most commonly found illegal forms of tobacco.
Fake versions of recognised brands, often with foreign language health warnings, are also a popular under-the-counter commodity.
Rob said: "Jin Ling is a brand that exists for the purposes of smuggling into the country.
"The tobacco is smuggled in, but it doesn't have the right warnings in the right language. It isn't duty paid.
"The stuff that we seize is stuff that's been smuggled over from Europe or it's these cheap whites."
Rob said his team catches those who are selling dodgy tobacco by carrying out routine inspections of shops and responding to tip-offs from members of the public.
"It's a fairly big problem in Cheltenham and Gloucester and we often take enforcement action against a person and then the shop changes hands and the new owner continues to sell illegal or fake tobacco," he said.
"There is no legislation that allows us to close a shop down.
"When customers buy things like this ,they don't realise what they are getting themselves into. They might not be aware what they are smoking.
"When you make tobacco available at these prices, you make it accessible to children, who can buy it at bargain prices.
"The counterfeit stuff hasn't the same requirements in terms of its contents. It could contain floor coverings.
"Every cigarette that we smoke without duty paid on it takes money from the Government to spend on services.
"It also takes away money from sales of legitimate tobacco. There are a number of traders who have complained about the sale of illegal tobacco."
Rob said shopkeepers think of ingenious places to store their illegal booty – from suspended ceiling panels to the insides of heaters.
"When you have experience of doing this for a few years, you know what to look for," he said.
"We've found tobacco in the centre part of drinks crates, in an electric storage heater. You would be surprised what they come up with. It shows the lengths they will go to.
"We will go over a shop with a fine toothcomb. We often go back to the same shop to find they are selling illegal tobacco a couple of weeks after we inspect them and do a seizure.
"We see an ongoing problem that doesn't appear to be subsiding.
"Sales of illegal tobacco continue and we won't stop until we've reduced the problem as best we can."
■ To report someone for selling tobacco illegally, visit stop- illegal-tobacco.co.uk
