Man sentenced after £100k of illegal tobacco seized

Illegal tobacco was being sold at Bucuresti Mini Market in Salisbury

A shopkeeper has been given a suspended prison sentence after more than £100,000 of illegal tobacco was seized.

Amang Mohammed, 29, from Southampton, was selling the illegal product at Bucuresti Mini Market in Brown Street, Salisbury.

Wiltshire Council's Trading Standards team found the tobacco was not labelled with the required health warnings or in standardised packaging. The majority was also found to be counterfeit.

Mohammed, who pleaded guilty to 14 offences relating to the tobacco, was given a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, at Salisbury Crown Court on 4 July.

Illegal tobacco had previously been seized from the shop in 2020 and Mohammed had been given a written warning.

But during a raid in April 2023, officers found goods were still on display and hidden on the premises.

'Not tolerated'

Car keys belonging to Mohammed were also found in a nearby wheelie bin, with more tobacco stored his vehicle.

Trading standards officers also found a key for a storage unit in Southampton, in which about £105,000 worth of tobacco was being kept.

After further complaints were received about the sale of illegal tobacco at the shop, a test purchase was made by an undercover officer on 31 May 2023.

Bank accounts showed that Mohammed had received cash deposits in excess of £100,000 between July 2020 and April 2023 for the products.

Councillor Dominic Muns said: "Our trading standards team is doing all they can to protect our residents from harm by prosecuting these traders and stopping these illegal sales from taking place.

“In addition, counterfeit tobacco does not always meet the requirements to self-extinguish and cigarettes of this type have previously been linked to several deaths through house fires."

Mr Muns said that the illegal tobacco is not regulated or manufactured to the same standards as normal tobacco and often found to contain higher levels of harmful substances.

“We are taking these types of businesses seriously and sales of products such as these will not be tolerated in Wiltshire," he added.