More than £26,000 worth of illegal vapes and cigarettes seized from five Northampton shops

Trading Standards officers from West Northamptonshire Council and police officers from Northamptonshire Police and the East Midlands Special Operations Unit joined forces for an operation in the town.

The team visited six shops and found illegal items in five of them totalling more than 1,000 vapes and nearly 2,000 cigarettes.

WNC posted on social media: “The illicit goods were discovered in hidden compartments in three of the shops, while at two others they were found in vehicles parked outside. 1,151 illegal vapes, 1,964 packets of illicit cigarettes, and more than 6kg of rolling tobacco were seized, as was a vehicle."

A WNC spokesman also confirmed that police also made an arrest for alleged immigration offences and that the shops in question will now be subject to further investigation and enforcement as a result of the finds.