Huge bags of illicit vapes and cigarettes found in Corby shop after surprise trading standards inspection

A trading standards inspection uncovered a huge haul of illegal cigarettes and vapes in Corby.

Piles of contraband were removed from the shop following Wednesday’s (January 24) raid.

The Northants Telegraph accompaniedpolice and North Northants Council trading standards operatives during the action in the town centre.

Officers went into the shop at 10am to check that the merchandise on sale was legal. Initially the workers delayed letting the police in until they told them they had no choice.

Stock in the front of the shop was deemed to be acceptable but when officers managed to get into the back room, they found piles of dangerous vapes and cigarettes from Europe which are not able to be sold legally in this country due to strict legislation surrounding tobacco products.

A sign in the shop told customers to ask at the counter for ‘deals’.

Three men behind the fortified counter, which had a locked hatch and a perspex screen reaching to the ceiling, denied being the owners of the shop. One refused to give his address until officers discovered he lived in a hotel for asylum seekers.

Many of the vapes were illegal because the cartridges were larger than 2ml in size and others were deemed a fire risk. Contraband 4,000 puff vapes were on sale for £7.

The shop cannot be named to avoid prejudicing prospective legal action.

The contraband will now be examined to decide on whether any further action will be taken.

Sergeant Steve Briggs, of Corby Police said that the major income for many similar shops was the illegal vapes they sold.

"There are only really two shelves of products here and they are often just a front because the real money is made from selling the vapes,” he said.

"They don’t advertise the stuff under the counter but it gets around by word of mouth that they’re selling it. What they don’t understand is that people also tell us about it.

"These men are not benefitting from it. It’s the people-traffickers and the dealers making all the money.

"The people buying it are putting their health at risk.”

One of the men working in the shop told this newspaper that in 2019 he had travelled from his home in Iran to Turkiye, where he had boarded a ship and been smuggled to Italy.

He then managed to find transport in a caravan that brought him to the UK where he successfully claimed asylum. He said he found it difficult to talk about how life had been in Iran.

"I don’t have any family there now,” he said.

"I was given asylum here. I love it. The best bit is the football. I support Man City.

He was keen to show our reporters his official payslip.

"I work here legally and pay my national insurance.”

He said he was employed by the shop boss and was paid a living wage and did not know that any of the products were illegal.

One other shop in Corby was also raided on Wednesday and a smaller amount of items were seized.