SIGNIFICANT quantities of illegal tobacco have been seized by Trading Standards Officers supported by North Wales Police from various locations across Wrexham.

Over 30,000 cigarettes, a number of hand rolling tobacco and £10,000 in cash was seized last week as part of Operation Cece with the aim of infiltrating the illegal tobacco trade in the area.

It comes as the Welsh Government launched their ‘No if’s, No butts’ campaign earlier in the year in a bid to combat the illegal tobacco trade in Welsh communities and the risk posed to children.

Speaking in the wake of the operation, Trading Standards and Licensing Lead, Roger Mapleson of Wrexham’s Public Protection Service said: “Illegal tobacco is a threat because its low cost and availability make it easy for children to obtain cigarettes and risk a life-long addiction to tobacco and it makes it harder for existing smokers to quit.

"Illegal tobacco sellers don’t care who they sell to and non-smoking children are a lucrative target."

In the UK and Wales, smoking is the single biggest cause of premature deaths with about 5,500 people passing away each year with many more long-term illnesses and disabilities coming because of the habit.

Whilst smoking rates in Wales and the rest of the UK have been steadily declining over recent years, about 30 children start smoking every day in Wales.

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Mr Mapleson added: “At least 1 in 3 young people who experiment with smoking end up with a long-term addiction. Most adult smokers want to quit, but easy to obtain cheap fags is a difficult temptation to resist given the highly addictive nature of tobacco.

“We need the help of the local community to tackle illegal tobacco and drive it out of local communities. It is supplied as part of an organised criminal activity that is linked to other criminal activity including the supply of illegal drugs, smuggling and modern slavery”

Operation Cece follows previous raids over the last 18 months to target the supply of the banned tobacco in the community with the intention of seizing the products, disrupting the market followed by appropriate legal action to apprehend dealers.  

Cllr Terry Evans, lead member for planning and publicprotection, said: “If you see, or know of cheap tobacco being sold in shops, from private houses, in pubs or the workplace or through social media please help protect our communities and report it.

"You can do this in confidence by reporting on line or 029 2049 0621.”