Organised crime is behind a surge in illegal tobacco and vape sales – with some outlets making £1,000 a day.
A report by the county’s trading standards officers says one premises in the Lincolnshire took £600,000 in card payments in just ten months and it did most of its business in cash.
“Organised crime groups are behind the importation, distribution and supply of illicit tobacco products and illegal vapes in Lincolnshire,” says the report going before the Community Safety Scrutiny Committee on Tuesday.
Cigarettes and tobacco that is produced for other countries and smuggled into the UK sell for around £7 for a pack of 20. Cigarettes bought in a supermarket legally cost between £13 and £19.
“The primary concern is that illegal cigarettes fail ignition propensity testing, meaning that they are less likely to self-extinguish if left unattended.
“This increases the risk of fire,” the report says.
“Smoking-related materials are one of the primary causes of fires in Lincolnshire and there have been fire-related deaths directly attributed to illicit cigarettes in the county.”
Aside from the risks, legitimate businesses suffer as they can’t compete with the illegal trade.
“Premises are operated by organised criminal gangs with other criminality occurring onsite and in the vicinity. Issues identified include the employment of persons with no legal right to work in the UK, anti-social behaviour and the sale of counterfeit goods,” the report says.
But despite successful prosecutions in ‘dozens’ of cases, the impact on the local community has been negligible as it didn’t deter those responsible, the report adds.
Businesses, often employing people with no right to work in this country, are being operated by criminal gangs who didn’t appear on records anywhere. So those profiting from the illegal sales were harder to unveil.
People being investigated as being responsible for the business were ‘effectively a patsy.’ It became apparent that tenants were willing participants as they were paid £500 for signing a tenancy agreement, for setting up a limited company, to attend interviews under caution and to appear in court.
“They had little to lose, but all were gaining financially from the arrangement.”
Penalties in 2025/26 included a total of 126 weeks’ custodial, 290 hours of unpaid work and £649 in fines and surcharges.
Court backlogs have seen ‘considerable delay’ in bringing criminal proceedings but an agreement has been made with police to arrest people involved to speed up the process.
The report also reveals the illicit tobacco and product safety team has just four trading standards officers.
