More than 100,000 illegal cigarettes and up to 50 kilos of tobacco have been seized following raids in Spalding.
Lincolnshire Trading Standards officers, Lincolnshire Police, licencing officials and two trained ‘Wagtail’ sniffer dogs took part in ‘Operation Aegir’.
Four retail premises in the town were targeted.
The illegal goods were found in a secret “hide” at Baltic, Spalding on Winsover Road and in vehicles parked outside Europe Store on Holbeach Road.
Nothing was found in two further retail premises that were targeted.
Ground spices were deliberately placed to confuse and distract sniffer dogs at Baltic, Spalding, however this merely acted to highlight areas for officers to conduct a very thorough manual search, a council press release said.
The dogs still manged to discover a further secret compartment located in a wall of the property.
At Europe Store while nothing was found inside the premises, two associated vehicles were searched with illegal cigarettes and tobacco found in both.
Senior Trading Standards Officer Joanne Hocking said: “The quantities involved were considerable, we are looking at this as a real success. The resources invested, and the organisation behind it all has been justified.
“It is so important to make sure there is continued scrutiny on retailers who are not abiding by the laws of the land so that those who are running their businesses properly are not disadvantaged. These products do not comply with the relevant safety standards in terms of ingredients and can be very dangerous for consumers.
“It is also widely understood that the proceeds from this sort of illegal activity can sometimes go to help fund organised crime. It is vital we get these products off the streets.”
Principal Trading Standards Officer Andy Wright said: “It has always been the policy of the Trading Standards Service to instigate criminal proceedings against those responsible for the supply of unsafe, counterfeit, and illicit tobacco products where appropriate.
“My Officers will investigate the circumstances surrounding these seizures with a view to identifying those responsible.”
