Barking and Dagenham Council is marking London Trading Standards Week and is highlighting their significant efforts in removing illegal tobacco from the streets.

In the last three months, officers have seized a total of 71,940 illicit tobacco with a retail value of £53,955.

Trading Standards regularly run test purchasing operations to find which shops are selling the illegal cigarettes and are then followed up with a raid with tobacco detection dogs.  

Councillor Syed Ghani, Cabinet Member for Enforcement and Community Safety, said, “These seizures over the last few months underscore our determination to tackle the sale of illegal tobacco in our borough. 

“The efforts of our Trading Standards team, supported by the use of tobacco detection dogs, are crucial in protecting public health and ensuring that those who engage in these illegal activities are prosecuted.”

Businesses that are found selling illegal tobacco always face further investigation with potential prosecution and licence reviews. 

The council’s Trading Standards team also run operations to crack down on illegal vapes and the selling of age restricted products to young people under 18 including vapes, alcohol and bladed items. 

Residents can report issues to Trading Standards by emailing tradingstandards@lbbd.gov.uk.