Crackdown welcomed as thousands of bootleg cigarettes and illegal vapes are seized in Hartlepool raids

Hartlepool Borough Council’s trading standards team, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) officers and Hartlepool Neighbourhood Policing Team officers joined forces to take part in Op Rover.

Six shops and five storage facilities in the town were visited, resulting in the recovery of 30,400 cigarettes, 17.25kg of hand-rolling tobacco and 180 disposable vapes.

The visits to the retail premises were based on intelligence received from sources such as members of the public who had reported information to the national Keep It out campaign.

In one premises, illicit goods were stored in a concealed hide and only discovered due to the impressive skills of Grif, a specially-trained detection dog handled by Stuart Philips, the owner of Stu Phillips K9, and working on behalf of HMRC.

Investigations are now ongoing following the seizures.

Councillor Karen Oliver, chair of Hartlepool Borough Council’s neighbourhood services committee, said: “We are determined to clampdown on the sale of these illegal products which pose a serious threat to public health and which also have a significant impact on the local economy by undermining the viability of legitimate businesses.

“The targeting of the self-storage locations recognises the fact that these facilities are seen as an increasingly attractive option for criminals looking to operate ‘below the radar’.

"Hopefully, these visits will help to spread the message that using these storage facilities isn’t a fool-proof way of hiding illicit goods.”

Chief Inspector Andy Liddell, from Hartlepool’s Neighbourhood Policing Team, added: "Illegal tobacco and vapes can cause real harm to our communities, with unregulated sales of vapes to underage people and a detrimental effect on legitimate businesses.

"We know illegal tobacco can be used to directly fund organised crime and through this partnership working, we are protecting people and cutting off the income stream to criminals."

Disposable vapes, also known as single use vapes, were banned from June 1 amid environmental concerns and because of their appeal to children.

Information about the sale of illicit cigarettes and tobacco can be reported anonymously on the Keep It Out website at keep-it-out.co.uk/