A Dewsbury man linked to a shop where illegal tobacco and cigarettes were sold from under the counter has been jailed for 15 months.
Arkan Rashid Ahmad of Hunza Court, Dewsbury was prosecuted at Leeds Crown Court for having in possession with intent to supply, in the course of a business trading as Global Groceries, Bradford Road, Dewsbury, a vast quantity of illicit tobacco products. Arkan pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment, with an order that the tobacco products were forfeited and destroyed. There was also a victim surcharge of £100.
The premises of Global Groceries is well known to West Yorkshire Trading Standards Service (WYTSS) with the Service first receiving complaints about the premises supplying illicit duty free tobacco in June 2010. In May 2011 the Service seized a quantity of illicit tobacco from the premises. In February 2012 officers from WYTS accompanied HMRC officers to Global Groceries where a further seizure of illicit tobacco products was made by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
On the 10th January 2014 after receiving a further complaint about illicit tobacco WYTSS officers visited the premises with a tobacco detection sniffer dog. A quantity of illicit tobacco products was found by the dog hidden underneath a shelving unit. Later that day West Yorkshire Police received information that the shop had restocked its supply of illicit tobacco products. Officers then re-visited the shop and further illegal tobacco products were found, both on site and in a basement storage unit.
A further inspection was again carried out on the 19th May 2014, when the defendant Arkan Rashid Ahmad was working in the shop. Officers carried out a thorough search and in the store room for the shop, found under crates of soft drinks, a hole had been cut out of the floor. In this hole, officers found a vast quantity of illicit tobacco products. These items were seized from Arkan Rashid Ahmad who claimed to know nothing about the products. Over 39,000 illicit cigarettes were seized and 209 packs of illicit rolling tobacco found hidden under the floor. HMRC Excise duty owed on this quantity of tobacco products amounts to £11,827.
A search conducted in storage units revealed a further large quantity of illicit tobacco products. Over 120,000 illicit cigarettes and 449 packs of illicit rolling tobacco were seized from this unit. HMRC advise that the duty owed on this amount of tobacco products amounts to £34,481.
David Lodge, Head of West Yorkshire Trading Standards Service, said: “Far from being a victimless crime illegal tobacco trading creates a cheap source for children and young people and encourages adults to continue smoking by eroding cost motivation to quit. It is also linked to organised crime and contributes to an underground economy worth hundreds of millions of pounds. This significant prison sentence should serve as a warning to those who are involved in this illegal trade – our tobacco team, supported by Public Health across West Yorkshire, has seized more than one million cigarettes and will continue to identify those operating illegally.
I would urge anyone with information on sales of illegal tobacco products to contact Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline on 03454 04 05 06”.
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