Nearly £70,000 worth of tobacco and cigarettes seized in Lowestoft
A total of 90,000 cigarettes and 45kg of hand rolling tobacco was seized
Suffolk Police have seized nearly £70,000 worth of tobacco and cigarettes in Lowestoft.
In a joint operation, officers from the force teamed up with HM Revenue and Customs last week (Tuesday 6th February), with a total of 90,000 cigarettes and 45kg of hand rolling tobacco seized worth an estimated £67,000 in duty and taxes.
They say cigarettes and tobacco were recovered from a single storage unit, as well as from a vehicle seized from the Triangle Market, which was found to contain tobacco and cigarettes.
They also found a shop in the Triangle had a large man-made hiding place under the floorboards at the rear of the shop premises, which also containing tobacco products.
A 26 year old man was arrested in connection with the incident on Saturday 10 February.
He's out on bail pending further enquiries until 1 May.
Sgt Richard Bemment from Lowestoft police said: “This was a very productive operation as illicit tobacco contributes to harm within the local community and often goes hand in hand with anti-social behaviour and more serious criminality wider afield or on a national scale.
"I’d like to pass on my thanks to all the other agencies involved – a great bit of partnership working and also thank to the owners of the local storage unit who were extremely helpful with this operation.”
PCSO Michael Soames said: "As well as the duty and tax loss there is a massive human cost behind this trade in illegal tobacco products, whether this be health issues or the supporting of human trafficking and modern day slavery which tend to go hand in hand with these types of offences, which working with our partners we are determined to tackle.”