A Coventry shop was raided after reports of selling illegal cigarettes and vapes to underage children, leading to significant seizures.
Coventry: So, there was this big bust in Coventry where police seized a ton of illegal cigarettes and vapes. It all went down yesterday, and it sounds like they really hit the jackpot.
Officers teamed up with Trading Standards to raid a shop that’s been selling these dodgy products to kids. They got a tip-off about it, and it seems like they were right on the money.
They took away a bunch of illegal items and are planning to take action against the shop. It’s been reported to the local council, so we’ll see what happens next.
Interestingly, Japan Tobacco International recently found that a lot of shops in Coventry are selling illegal tobacco and vapes. They discovered 32 stores involved, which is pretty shocking.
Some of these shops were selling counterfeit cigarettes for a fraction of the price. Like, who wouldn’t be tempted by that? But it’s definitely not safe or legal.
They even found vapes that had way more puff counts than what’s allowed. One shop had a vape that could puff 25,000 times! That’s just wild.
Ian Howell from JTI UK mentioned that the black market for tobacco is getting out of hand, and it’s a real concern. He thinks that new laws could make things worse by pushing more people to illegal sellers.
It’s a messy situation, and it’s clear that something needs to be done to protect our communities from these illegal activities.
