Salisbury shopkeeper sentence for illegal tobacco sales
Amang Mohammed's Brown Street store was raided by Trading Standards
Last updated 8th Jul 2024
A Salisbury shopkeeper has been handed a suspended prison sentence for selling illegal tobacco products from a shop in Brown Street.
Wiltshire Council’s Trading Standards raided the Bucuresti Mini Market in April 2023 and seized more than £100,000 worth of products.
2\9 year old Amang Mohammed, from Southampton has been sentenced at Salisbury Crown Court to a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and ordered to attend 10 rehabilitation requirement days.
The tobacco supplied by Mr Mohammed was not labelled with the required health warnings, was not in standardised packaging and the majority was also found to be counterfeit.
He pleaded guilty to 14 offences relating to the tobacco.
Cllr Dominic Muns, Cabinet Member for Environment, said:
"Our trading standards team is doing all they can to protect our residents from harm by prosecuting these traders and stopping these illegal sales from taking place.
“In addition, counterfeit tobacco does not always meet the requirements to self-extinguish and cigarettes of this type have previously been linked to several deaths through house fires. It is not regulated or manufactured to the same standards as normal tobacco, often being found to contain higher levels of harmful substances, as well as chemicals which are not normally permitted.
“I hope that the sentences that have been imposed today send a clear message that we are taking these types of businesses seriously and sales of products such as these will not be tolerated in Wiltshire.”
Illegal tobacco had previously been seized from Bucuresti Mini Market in 2020, for which Mr Mohammed had received a written warning.
During the April 2023 raid, officers found a set of car keys in a nearby wheelie bin for a vehicle belonging to Mr Mohammed.
More tobacco was found within the vehicle together with a key for a storage unit in Southampton.
After entry was forced into the unit, a further large amount of tobacco was found, valued at approximately ÂŁ105,000.
After further complaints were received that illegal tobacco continued to be sold from the premises, a test purchase was made by an undercover officer on 31st May 2023.
Bank accounts showed that Mr Mohammed had received cash deposits in excess of ÂŁ100,000 between July 2020 and April 2023 for illegal tobacco products.