Over £6,000 worth of illegal cigarettes, vapes, shisha and tobacco was seized and taken off the streets recently, thanks to Havering Council’s Trading Standards team.
After gathering evidence over weeks of investigation as part of Operation CeCe, the team, along with the Council’s enforcement team and officers from Havering police, raided the Hornchurch business in a joint operation.
Items discovered in the raid also included illegal hand-rolling tobacco and electrical shisha burners. The burners were seized due to product safety and packaging issues.
The total worth of the illegal goods found was £6,400.
Two premises were searched during the operation both located at the same address.
At the end of the operation, an issue was also identified with the gas supply at one of the premises, following a strong smell of gas.
The National Gas Emergency called for the gas supply be manually switched off and for the business owners to voluntarily close their premises immediately for safety.
Cadent Gas then attended the premises to ensure any leak was prevented.
As further investigations are currently ongoing, the name of the business cannot be named.
Councillor Terry Brown, Havering’s Cabinet Member for Planning and Public Protection, said:
“We won’t tolerate businesses or anyone selling illegal and dangerous goods in our borough.
“Together with the police, our trading standards teams will continue to crack down on those who do this and this is another great example of that work.
“Our residents can also be our eyes and ears, if you know a business that is selling illicit products, please tell us.”