Northampton businessman suspected of selling illicit tobacco told he cannot take over Rushden shop

A businessman who was the director of a company that ran a Northampton shop which sold illicit tobacco is not allowed to take over a Rushden shop which police suspect of doing the same.

Northamptonshire Police said tobacco test purchasers bought from Nasz Sklep in Alexandra Terrace, Northampton, on three occasions between September 2021 and January 2022 had no duty paid on it.

Dana Kamal, from Northampton, was the sole director of a company that ran the shop from October 2020 until March 2022, when it was dissolved.

Mr Kamal had applied to take over USA Off Licence, in High Street, Rushden, which is also known as International Supermarket.

Officers said that in October 2022, trading standards officers and police visited the shop unannounced and found 16,680 cigarettes and 211 packets of rolling tobacco which had not had any duty paid on them. The tobacco would have been worth about £9,200 if duty had been paid, police said.

North Northamptonshire Council’s licensing sub-committee turned down Mr Kamal’s bid to take over the Rushden shop. Mr Kamal did not attend the meeting on Friday, January 27.

It said the application “cannot support the licensing objective of the prevention of crime and disorder due to the sales of illicit tobacco” and rejected Mr Kamal’s request.