Four shops have been forced to shut in a crackdown on illegal cigarettes. Newport Council has secured three-month closure orders for the businesses in Pillgwenlly and the city centre.
The shops — which span half a mile along a single thoroughfare — are Food Store at 155 Commercial Road, Maleek at 61 Commercial Road, Jacobs at 61 Commercial Street, and Superstore at 141 Commercial Street. A council spokeswoman said all were involved in the sale of illicit tobacco.
When the closure orders were issued by Gwent magistrates last month, the only business to contest the council's application was Food Store, which was unsuccessful. Superstore cannot reopen until November 10, Jacobs until November 11, Maleek until November 17 and Food Store until November 30.
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Earlier this year 12 shops in Newport were forced to close for three months in a previous crackdown on the illegal trade, including four businesses on Commercial Road. The council estimates the 16 closures so far this year will prevent illegal tobacco sales worth more than £500,000.
A BBC investigation from 2012 found that illegal tobacco can contain eight times as much lead as legal brands and "abnormally high levels of cancer-causing chemicals". Last year more than three million ilicit cigarettes were confiscated across Wales.
The Welsh government says there is evidence of the market "feeding" other areas of crime including gangs, drugs and human trafficking. A report from HMRC estimates that the trade costs the UK taxpayer more than £2billion in lost revenues each year.
Newport Council says there is a "higher prevalence" of illegal tobacco in deprived communities. Popular types include:
- ‘Cheap whites’, which are mass produced in one country and smuggled into another
- Cheap genuine tobacco smuggled into the UK with no duty paid (packages often display foreign languages and a lack of health warnings)
- Cigarettes sold individually instead of in packets
- Counterfeits or fakes, which look like well-known brands but are made illegally.
The Welsh Government recently launched training for all police forces across Wales to disrupt the industry. It has set up the No Ifs, No Butts website to allow people to report information on the market. You can read more Newport stories here.
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