Wolverhampton business owner in court after dogs sniff out illegal tobacco products
A Wolverhampton business owner selling illicit cigarettes, tobacco and vapes has been ordered to carry out unpaid work and pay more than £2,000.
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Mazin Abdullah, owner of Aro Market & Bakery in Staveley Road, was found to have been hiding the counterfeit products behind the shop counter, in a concealed compartment and in a rear storeroom, following investigations by Wolverhampton Council.
The illicit items, which included 29,535 cigarettes, 169 vapes, 1.75kg of hand-rolling tobacco and 3.3kg of shisha, were discovered with the help of sniffer dogs.
In total, Abdullah pleaded guilty to 13 offences: one under The Standardised Packaging of Tobacco Regulations 2015, five under The Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 and seven under the Trade Marks Act.
He was sentenced to 220 hours of unpaid work and ordered to pay costs of £2,265 during the hearing at Dudley Magistrates Court on May 1.
Abdullah had been visited by officers from Wolverhampton Council on a number of occasions.
An environmental health officer first spotted cigarettes in non-standard packaging while on a routine food inspection of the premises in November 2021.
A test purchase was conducted in February 2022 where counterfeit Marlboro Red cigarettes and oversized vapes were sold. The raid was then arranged by Trading Standards officers later that year.
Councillor Bhupinder Gakhal, cabinet member for resident services at Wolverhampton Council, said: "We will continue to carry out these seizures along with the police to improve the quality of life and health of our residents and to ensure everyone in the city is safer.
"Illicit tobacco and cigarettes hold even greater risks than legitimate ones as they often contain far more nicotine. Some fake products can even contain high levels of lead and arsenic.
"I would like to thank the council’s Trading Standards and legal teams, along with West Midlands Police, who consistently monitor the practices of businesses in the region to ensure that the public are protected from fraudsters and dangerous products.”
Officers estimate that unpaid duty on the total seizure was £15,686.40 and the total lost to the industry was £19,407.
Dudley Magistrates Court made a forfeiture and destruction order against the items seized. The cigarettes and tobacco will now be handed over to a recycling scheme by Trading Standards officers to be dealt with in an environmentally friendly way.
Any residents concerned about vapes or other tobacco products they have seen on sale in the city can email trading.standards@wolverhampton.gov.uk
