Thousands pounds worth of illegal goods seized in Calderdale commercial building raids

Officers from West Yorkshire Trading Standard, West Yorkshire Police and Calderdale Council community Wardens, executed warrants at five commercial premises in the Calderdale area.

Officers seized numerous items including illegal cigarettes and illegal disposable vapes which amount to thousands of pounds.

The individuals identified in connection with the illegal goods will be prosecuted for the relevant offences said a spokesperson for Halifax Neighbourhood Policing team.

West Yorkshire Trading Standards Tackling Illicit Tobacco for Better Health Programme, funded by the five Public Health departments, is helping people to stop tobacco use for good by educating the public and by investigating traders who supply cheap and illicit tobacco. The initiative uses multi-agency enforcement and community marketing campaigns to tackle the problems of the illicit trade.

To date the programme has taken nearly 7 million illicit cigarettes and two and half tonnes of illicit hand rolling tobacco off the streets of West Yorkshire. With more inspections planned in the coming weeks, these figures are set to increase. Training sessions with thousands of members of the public and hundreds of front line professionals have been delivered to raise awareness about the dangers and wider criminality associated with the supply of illicit tobacco.

Linda Davis, West Yorkshire Trading Standards Manager said, “The supply of cheap and illicit tobacco is linked to organised crime and contributes to an underground economy worth billions of pounds.

"Victims of human trafficking are often being forced to sell these illegal products in order to pay off debts or fearing harm to themselves or their families.

"We are committed to the fight against cheap and illicit tobacco."