More than 8,000 cigarettes seized from Dunstable shop in illegal tobacco operation

This is the second time he has been convicted of selling illicit tobacco
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A Dunstable shop owner has admitted and been fined for selling illegal tobacco products for the second time.

Ali Abdullah, who was at the time the owner of Dunstable Mini Market, appeared at Luton Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, October 6, and pleaded guilty to a number of offences relating to the supply of illicit tobacco.

The case was brought by Central Bedfordshire Council Trading Standards.

The cigarettes were seized from a shop in DunstableThe cigarettes were seized from a shop in Dunstable
The cigarettes were seized from a shop in Dunstable

It followed a complaint received from a member of the public about the sale of foreign labelled cigarettes at Dunstable Mini Market.

In November 2019 an inspection was carried out at the premises by the council's trading standards team accompanied by Wagtail, a tobacco detection dog.

A search of the shop by the dog led to a stash of cigarettes and tobacco hidden on top of a display cabinet.

Empty packaging was also found in the storeroom, evidence that a large amount of tobacco had been on the premises.

In total, 12 pouches of rolling tobacco and 162 packets of cigarettes were seized.

In court, Abdullah pleaded guilty to offences under the Fraud Act and specific tobacco related offences. He was given a conditional discharge for 12 months and ordered to pay £1,120 towards costs.

Cllr Ian Dalgarno, Central Bedfordshire Council’s executive Member for community services, said: “We would like to sincerely thank the member of the public who supplied us with the information which assisted us in securing this prosecution.

“We take these types of complaints very seriously and any intelligence passed on to us will be investigated.

“Businesses may be tempted to sell illegal tobacco to customers thinking they are getting the genuine product in a bid to make a bit of extra money.

"Not only is this illegal, but this is theft from the taxpayer and undermines legitimate traders.

“I’d encourage anyone who is concerned about illegal tobacco being sold in their area to report this to the team.”

Anyone concerned that they have been sold counterfeit alcohol or illegal tobacco products should notify the team by calling 0300 300 8642 or emailing [email protected].

This is the 2nd time that ABDULLA has been convicted of selling illicit tobacco – the last time was in October 2019.

On Tuesday Oct 6 Abdullah pleaded guilty to:

Ali ABDULLAH, on or about 19 November 2019, had in his possession or under his control an article for use in the course of or in connection with a fraud, namely 162 illegal packets of cigarettes and 12 illegal pouches of hand rolling tobacco. Contrary to section 6(1) Fraud Act 2006.

Ali ABDULLAH, on 19 November 2019, at Dunstable Mini Market, Dunstable, had in his possession for supply tobacco products that did not comply with the requirements of The Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016, namely that they did not bear the warning text “smoking kills – quit now”. CONTARY TO Regulation 7(1) and 48 (a)(i) of the said Regulations.

Ali ABDULLAH, on 19 November 2019, at Dunstable Mini Market, Dunstable, had in his possession for supply tobacco products that did not comply with the Standardised Packaging of Tobacco Products Regulation 2015, namely the packets of cigarettes were not of the colour or shade permitted. CONTRARY TO Regulation 7(1) & 15 of the said Regulations.

Ali ABDULLAH, on 19 November 2019, had in his possession for supply tobacco products in respect of which the producer had not complied with requirements of Regulation 7 Tobacco Products (Manufacture, Presentation and Sale) (Safety) Regulations 2002, in that packets do not carry a prescribed warning and the fact that a number of the cigarette packets were foreign labelled. CONTARARY TO Regulation 7of the said Regulations.

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