Britain is rapidly changing, especially the UK High Street where once small butchers, bakers, newsagents, clothing, gifts, greeting cards and other stores made up a diverse mix. Now vape shops, takeaways, charity shops, gambling outlets and barbers dominate. But some of these new business ventures are a front for the real operations, which are people trafficking, drugs, cannabis cultivation, cigarettes or alcohol sales – no tax, cash only naturally.
This case highlights the risks for Commercial insurance brands and IE suggests that regular inspections, with video evidence, becomes the norm for insuring/renewals on landlord or Commercial policies. The use of drones, or enhanced satellite/thermal imagery may well prove useful in the future as imaging technology continues to advance.
There are serious fire risks to think about when it comes to detecting illegal goods distribution, so the changing retail sector demands more innovation from property and landlord insurance specialists.
Here’s the word;
Joined by Humberside Police and a specialist dog unit, officers visited several shops on Pasture Street and Cross Coates Road in Grimsby and Cross Street and High Street in Cleethorpes.
A number of the shops were found to have complex hidden storage areas, only accessible by triggering an electromagnet switch which were forced open by officers following their discovery by search dogs Cooper, Griff and Bran.
The raids were part of ongoing intelligence-led operation targeting counterfeit and illicit cigarettes, tobacco and illegal disposable vape dealers Operation CeCe and Operation Joseph. These are joint ventures between National Trading Standards and HMRC targeting the illegal supply of oversized, disposable vaping bars.
Photo; One of the secret compartments – Lincs Police.
In total, 94,360 cigarettes, 23.75 kilos of tobacco and 4841 illegal disposable vapes were seized during the one-day operation, Friday, 21 March. An estimated value for the cigarettes, tobacco and vaping bars seized is over £142,500.
Since the commencement of these Operations in January 2021, North East Lincolnshire Council Trading Standards team have seized 93,807 packs of cigarettes, 12,206 pouches of tobacco and over 17,000 illegal vapes, with a combined value of almost £2.2 million pounds. Had it not been for raids such as this, all this money would have gone out of the local economy and into the hands of organised crime gangs.
The Operation has also seen criminals brought to justice for their part in the selling of illegal tobacoo products. North East Lincolnshire Council, with the support of Humberside Police, executed a search warrant at a property in Healing, on 21 November 2021.
Upon inspection, officers found 386,760 illegal cigarettes and 290 pouches of illegal tobacco, worth in excess of £227,000. As a result, a man and a woman pleaded guilty in 2021 and were sentenced at a further hearing in February 2024.
Nabaz Rasul Mohammed, 29, a shopkeeper of Freeman Street, Grimsby, entered guilty pleas to 12 offences under the Trade Marks Act 1994, and a further four offences relating to the packaging of all the products seized. He was subsequently sentenced to 18 months in custody, suspended for two years and to attend 20 days of Rehabilitation Activity.
Meanwhile Angela Ammari, 51, of Exmoor Close, Healing, had pleaded guilty to 11 offences under the Trade Marks Act 1994 relating to 292,000 cigarettes and 50 x 50g pouches of tobacco which were found to be counterfeit copies of genuine brands, at an earlier hearing in October 2022. Ammari was sentenced to four months in custody suspended for 12 months and must also attend 20 days of Rehabilitation Activity.
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