Police find illegal vapes under shop floorboards

Dozens of boxes of vapes in bright packaging hidden under floorboards.Image source, Warwickshire Police
Image caption,

Officers discovered dozens of illegal vapes hidden under the floorboards at one shop in Rugby

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Hundreds of illegal vapes and cigarettes have been seized after police found a stash "squirrelled away" under shop floorboards.

Officers simultaneously visited two shops in Rugby on 6 November, when they discovered thousands of pounds worth of the products.

Warwickshire Police said it had noticed something "iffy" in one shop and lifted the floorboards up, revealing the illegal vapes.

Almost 2,400 vapes, more than 1,300 packs of cigarettes and 78 pouches of hand rolling tobacco were found during the joint operation with trading standards.

"Plans to sell thousands of illegal vapes and cigarettes in Rugby fell through the floor, almost literally, after we paid a visit to a couple of suspicious shops in Rugby last week," a force spokesperson said.

"We gathered lots of intelligence for further inquiries."

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