Shopkeeper jailed over haul of fake cigarettes

A shopkeeper who sold illegal cigarettes and vapes in a number of stores has been jailed for three years and eight months.

Ismail Amin's shop in Boston, Lincolnshire, was raided in February 2023 and officers uncovered illicit vapes, cigarettes and tobacco worth £3,000, Lincolnshire Trading Standards said.

He also committed similar offences in stores he owned in Birmingham and across Derbyshire, in "a network of illegal trade", a spokesperson added.

Amin, of Reeves Road, Derby, was also ordered to pay costs of around £20,000 when he was sentenced during a hearing at Derby Crown Court last week.

During the raid in Boston, officers said they uncovered a large stash of products in an "electronic hide" disguised as a wall.

Andy Wright, principal trading standards officer at Lincolnshire County Council, said: "The products themselves are often dangerous.

"Cigarettes which are illegally manufactured rarely comply with fire safety standards and usually lack the self-extinguishing feature of legal ones."

He said shops selling "illegal goods contribute to anti-social behaviour and are often a front for other serious criminality such as illegal working".

"This was the case here [in Boston], as the person found in charge of the shop had no right to work in the UK."

Last month, officers said more than 90,000 illicit cigarettes and 300 vapes were seized from seven shops in Lincolnshire as part of a crackdown.

Lincolnshire Police described it as "the biggest retail haul" in the county to date, with more than 40,000 of the cigarettes found at one premise.

The goods were seized from shops in Boston, Spalding and Holbeach.

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