62,000 illegal cigarettes seized from Erith grocery store

Illicit cigarettes and hand-rolled tobacco was piled high in two stock rooms inside the store, and it took police several hours to remove the 14 sacks of evidence and the false industrial packaging used to disguise its illegal importation into the UK.

Bexley Trading Standards officers carried out the covert operation acting on information from Met Police, and they found the store to be selling smuggled tobacco products from under the counter.

Bexley Trading Standards

The officers, along with Met Police raided the Erith grocery store on Friday, September 10, and bagged 3,147 packets of cigarettes and 42 kilograms of hand-rolling tobacco estimated to be worth £32000.

It took officers several hours to remove 14 sacks of evidence from the two stock rooms, storage cabinets and false industrial packaging used to disguise its illegal importation into the UK.

The haul was not produced or packaged for legal sale in the UK. When tested the seized goods are likely to fail UK safety regulations that need cigarettes to self-extinguish to prevent house fires.

Bexley Trading Standards

Councillor Peter Craske, Bexley’s Cabinet Member for Places, said: "Illicit tobacco not only harm our efforts to reduce smoking in the borough, but also presents a serious fire risk to Bexley residents.

"The successful seizure has made a sizeable dent in the cash profits of these determined organised criminals.

"We will continue working with the Metropolitan Police to track down and stop the selling of smuggled and unsafe products under the counter.”

Trading Standards investigations are ongoing, and residents can report illicit tobacco sales by calling the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 0808 223 1133.