Corner shops selling counterfeit and illegal tobacco are fronts for organised crime groups, a judge has said. The warning came as two men were sentenced at Swansea Crown Court following search warrants that uncovered more than 9,000 packets of illegal cigarettes, along with tobacco and vapes worth tens of thousands of pounds.
Shop at Centre of Decade of Issues
Lee Reynolds, prosecuting, told the court the case revolved around a shop called Swansea Market on St Helen's Road in Swansea. He described it as a property that "has been the cause of continual issues for 10 years" over the sale of tobacco and vape products. The shop had undergone frequent changes of ownership and staff over the years and had been served with a number of closure notices.
The court heard that on November 14 last year, officers from Swansea Council's trading standards raided the shop and seized a "large quantity" of illegal tobacco, cigarettes, and other products with a retail value of more than £31,000. Defendant Rekawt Abdul was present in the shop during the visit.
The prosecutor said a closure notice was served on the shop but, "as is common" with such notices, "the order did not resolve the problem nature of the premises".
Stock Found in Flat and Courtyard
The court heard the council subsequently received information that stock was being stored in a flat next to Swansea Market and was being thrown from a flat room into the rear courtyard of the shop "for staff to supply any illegal orders" from customers.
In June this year, search warrants were executed at the shop and the flat. In the flat, officers found large quantities of illicit tobacco products totalling 9,158 packets of cigarettes, 53 pouches of tobacco, and 36 vapes, which were seized. The prosecutor said the goods had a "counterfeit value" of £47,000 and a value, if the goods had been legitimate, of £153,000.
The court heard the second defendant, Mohamed Mohamed, was found hiding on a flat roof of the flat having gained access from the window of a locked bedroom. He confirmed he worked at the shop and had been throwing illicit tobacco products into the neighbouring courtyard. A search of Swansea Market found £1,481 in cash in the till.
Defendants Sentenced
In interviews, Mohamed answered "no comment" to all questions asked, while Abdul denied any knowledge of illegal items. The prosecution accepted that neither defendant "was truly in charge of this operation".
Mohamed Mohamed, aged 26, of no fixed abode, and Rekawt Abdul, aged 29, of Amber Close, Sandfields, Port Talbot, had both previously pleaded guilty to participating in a fraudulent business when they appeared in the dock via prison videolink for sentencing.
Judge Geraint Walters told the defendants that they had been employed by a criminal gang operating in Swansea which was selling illegal and counterfeit tobacco products. He said Swansea Council was to be commended for its determined pursuit of illegal business of the type outlined by the prosecution, adding: "The public know, the courts know, it is a front of the operation of criminal gangs."
With one-quarter discounts for their guilty pleas, Mohamed was sentenced to two years in prison and Abdul to three years. The judge told both defendants they may well be deported at the point they are released from prison, but said that was a matter for the Home Office and not for the courts.
Speaking through interpreters, both defendants said the money seized from the shop was nothing to do with them and they were making no claim to it, and a confiscation order was made.
Speaking after the sentencing, Andrew Williams, Swansea Council cabinet member for development, said: "This council is taking the sale of illegal vapes and counterfeit tobacco in Swansea very seriously. Our trading standards team has made this issue a priority and has been able to gather large amounts of intelligence in terms of which shops in the city have previously been selling illegal goods to consumers, including children. The latest prosecution should hopefully send out a very strong message to other businesses in the city that they have a duty to ensure they are trading legally and not putting consumers at risk."
