Overview
- Across October, officers inspected 36 premises in Essex towns including Clacton, Colchester, Harlow, Chelmsford, Basildon and Braintree, with illegal products found at more than 80% of sites, according to Essex Police.
- Essex seizures totaled 116,000 cigarettes, over 54kg of hand-rolling tobacco, 4,300 illegal or non-compliant vapes, £6,000 in cash and one uninsured vehicle.
- In Haverhill, Suffolk Trading Standards working with the NCA and Suffolk Police seized 452 packets of cigarettes and 2.2kg of hand-rolling tobacco using specialist detection dogs.
- Suffolk Trading Standards today located 2,129 illegal vapes in a Newmarket storage unit after a partner tip‑off and are seeking to identify the owners as part of an active investigation.
- Officials report many products appear to be illegally imported without duty and include suspected counterfeits, with further intelligence-led enforcement planned to pursue higher-level actors.