From: The Guardian
Councils warn that black market cigarettes create fire risks, damage businesses and cost £3bn a year in unpaid duty
Efforts to reduce smoking and improve health are being hampered by the black market trade of millions of illegal cigarettes filled with human excrement, dead flies, rat droppings, mould and asbestos, local authority leaders have warned.
The Local Government Association (LGA) said fake cigarettes posed a fire risk because they are not designed to extinguish when not actively smoked, damage honest businesses and cost the UK economy about £3bn a year in unpaid duty.
***
Many have much higher levels of toxic ingredients such as tar, nicotine, carbon monoxide, lead, cadmium and arsenic than genuine cigarettes.
Councillor Joanna Spicer, vice chair of the LGA’s safer and stronger communities board, said: “Counterfeit tobacco being sold cheaply through the black market by rogue traders is hampering council efforts to reduce smoking. This illicit trade is also funding organised criminal gangs, damaging the livelihoods of honest businesses and costing taxpayers billions of pounds a year.
