HMRC seizes over 2,700 litres of illicit alcohol in North Wales

An HMRC operation has uncovered over 2,700 litres of illegal alcohol in North Wales as well as almost 450,000 illicit cigarettes, a Samurai sword and an unknown quantity of cannabis cookies.

An officer opens a self storage unit with a grinder as part of the operation .

Around 24 HMRC officers were involved in the exercise which aimed to disrupt the sale and supply of illegal alcohol and tobacco across the region.

With the assistance of North Wales Police, the UK Border Agency and Flintshire, Conwy, Denbighshire, Gwynedd and Wrexham Trading Standards, officers visited 59 retail premises and self-storage units last week as part of HMRC’s Tobacco Taskforce activity.

Illegal alcohol and tobacco products were seized from 11 premies. A total of 2,703.35 litres of alcohol was uncovered, worth an estimated £6,615 in unpaid duty and VAT.

Among the other finds were 446,664 cigarettes (with an estimated value of £155,886 in unpaid duty and VAT), 169.85kg of hand-rolling tobacco (£46,709 in evaded duty and VAT), a Samurai sword and a vehicle used to transport illegal goods, as well as an unspecified quantity of amphetamines, cocaine, cannabis and cannabis cookies.

Wrexham.com reports that one of the premises raided was a Euro Delikatesy store in Wrexham town centre. According to reports, officers were seen entering the premises on the corner of Chester Street and High Street with empty boxes on Wednesday 25 October, and later allegedly loaded a nearby van with unknown recovered goods from the shop.

John Cooper, assistant director of the Fraud Investigation Service at HMRC, said: “The sale of illegal tobacco and alcohol will not be tolerated by us or our partner agencies.”

“Disrupting criminal trade is at the heart of our strategy to clampdown on the illicit tobacco market, which costs the UK around £2.5 billion a year, and the sale of illicit alcohol which costs the UK around £1.3 billion per year. This is theft from the taxpayer and undermines legitimate traders.”

“We encourage anyone with information about the illegal sale of tobacco or alcohol to contact the Fraud Hotline 0800 788 887″.

Dave Jolly, chief inspector, North Wales Police, added: “As a result of the activity last week we have denied criminals the opportunity to evade duty and benefit financially at the expense of the residents of North Wales. Our actions will be on-going and reinforce the commitment from the PCC to make North Wales a safer place.”.

Richard Powell, chair of Trading Standards North Wales, commented: “The widespread availability of cheap, illegal tobacco in our communities poses a major threat to health. Around 11,000 children become addicted in Wales every year (that’s a classroom full each day) before they are even old enough to be legally sold tobacco.”

“The results achieved in this joint agency operation, led by HMRC, are incredibly encouraging and sends a clear message that we are committed to working together to tackle illegal tobacco and alcohol”.

Investigations into the seized items are ongoing.