Police raid on empty shop in Grimsby's Freeman Street reveals hoard of illicit smoking products

                                                       

The illicit products seized in the raid 

                                                        

A TOTAL of 313 pouches of illicit tobacco, 348 vapes and 93,120 illegal cigarettes have been seized from storage in a vacant shop in Grimsby.

The premises have not been identified but are said to be in Freeman Street.

The discovery came following a raid by police and council trading standards officers.

No one has been arrested  and investigations are continuing. 

A spokesperson for North East Lincolnshire Council said: "It is thought that, if legitimate, the  value of the tobacco products would  be around £80,814, but their 'street value' is more likely  to be  just over £25,000."

The vapes are believed to have a street value of around £3,500.

Insp Pete Musgrave, of Humberside police, said: "I hope this latest seizure of counterfeit and illicit products demonstrates our determination to pursue every possible avenue to disrupt those who are involved in this type of criminality.

"Operations such as these are often linked to the funding of organised crime groups, with connections to modern-day slavery and human trafficking.

"These are not victimless crimes, and agencies will continue to support one another, acting on information and intelligence that the public provides."