More than £30,000 of illegal tobacco, cigarettes and vapes seized from three Northampton shops
More than £30,000 of illegal tobacco, cigarettes and vapes was seized from three Northampton shops during a police operation.
Search warrants were executed at three shops in Spencer Bridge Road, Harlestone Road and Kettering Road, in support of the Operation Machinize - the National Crime Agency’s coordinated response to criminal exploitation of the high street.
The first warrant was executed at Central Food & Wine in Spencer Bridge Road on Tuesday October 21, where officers and partners seized more than £900 in cash along with counterfeit cigarettes and tobacco.
A total of 943 packets of cigarettes and 37 packets of tobacco were seized from the premises as well as three white vans associated to the business parked nearby, worth a respective £15,088 and £1,480 if sold at retail price.
On Wednesday October 22, the second warrant was executed at DIY Local Shop in Harlestone Road, where £3,765 in cash was seized along with 624 packets of cigarettes, 96 packets of tobacco and 99 vapes. These had a retail value of £9,984, £3,960 and £495 respectively.
Ja Ja Grocery Store in Kettering Road was the target of the third, and final warrant, which was executed on Thursday October 23. At this location a further 53 packets of cigarettes and one packet of tobacco was seized, which had a combined retail value of nearly £900.
Detective Chief Inspector Andrew Tuff, head of the CID West team, said: “These are businesses that are cash intensive businesses, so money linked to money laundering, which is associated with criminality, organised acquisitive crime and targeting vulnerable people.
"It’s a priority for us to target organised acquisitive crime and protect vulnerable people.
"By disrupting their business, we are recovering goods and we are preventing them exploiting people further in their criminal aims."
No arrests were made and no immigration offences were identified.