Don’t Let Them Make A Packet

The county’s criminal underworld is profiting from smuggling illicit cigarettes and tobacco into the county and selling them on the black market, often to the most vulnerable and impressionable in our society – with the biggest victims feared to be young people.

County Council figures suggest an estimated 50,000 people in Lancashire smoke illegal cigarettes, with many believing they are getting a good deal by buying a pack for half the price of legal tobacco sold by legitimate retailers. But few will realise the sickening story behind Lancashire’s illegal tobacco trade.

Some forms of illicit cigarettes have been made by poverty stricken families – many of them youngsters – exploited in damp and filthy sweatshops in the Far East and Russia.

Though all tobacco is deadly, the unregulated and unlicensed illegal products have been found by scientists to contain harmful additions like rat droppings, sawdust and plastic, and the quality of the tobacco is poor, meaning the county’s smokers are exposed to higher levels of nicotine, tar and carbon monoxide.

Today, as part of the “Don’t Let Them Make a Packet” campaign, the Evening Post calls on readers to help thwart the dangerous trade which is fuelling crimes and exploiting the most vulnerable. The Evening Post can today lift the lid on the scale and scope of the illicit tobacco trade in Preston.

Our “Don’t Let Them Make a Packet” campaign is backed by Lancashire Police, Lancashire Trading Standards, Crimestoppers, Central Lancashire Primary Care Trust, Preston City Council and pressure group Tobacco Free Futures, as well as figures from the tobacco industry.

These agencies took part in a meeting to share concerns about the trade at the Evening Post offices in Fulwood.

Lee Ormandy, lead officer for Trading Standards informal economy and special investigations, said: “People who are tempted to buy illegal tobacco may think they are getting a bargain, but what they might not realise is that they are often funding serious crime. This in turn has a seriously detrimental effect on local businesses and communities.

“The gangs responsible for supplying illicit tobacco are only interested in profit. Supplying counterfeit goods of all kinds is a criminal offence which forces many legitimate traders to the wall.

“This illicit trade will not be tolerated in Lancashire. We are working closely with partners such as Lancashire Police and HMRC to not only protect the public, but also legitimate businesses who are being hit by sales of under the counter products.

“Traffickers of these illegal goods will be brought to book and should be aware that we will not hesitate to seize their stock and bring prosecutions.

“Lancashire Trading Standards fully supports the LEPs campaign and hope it encourages the public to demand the genuine article.”

Agencies fear the low risk high gain profits from illicit tobacco help to fund other crimes the dealers are connected to, such as human trafficking, the sex trade, drugs and firearms and even terrorism.

Often recruiting lower scale “runners – including children – to do their dirty work, the products are peddled in our poorest, most disadvantaged communities where criminals know residents cannot afford full priced duty paid cigarettes.

It means the incentive to quit for people in places like Brookfield, Preston, which has one of the highest smoking rates in the county, is severely affected.

Health bosses also fear it is encouraging more children to smoke because counterfeit or illicit tobacco is cheap and easy to get hold of, without being challenged about their age.

Gary Murray, regional manager for Crimestoppers, said: “We thank the public who have already come forward with information about fag houses and tobacco but would encourage more to come forward about this issue as it is often linked to serious and organised crime groups who have no respect for children and vulnerable people in our community.”

Politicians have lent their support to the campaign which is launched as the All Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health is to hold an inquiry into tackling the illicit tobacco trade.

Mark Hendrick, Lab MP for Preston, said: “The illicit trade is linked to many forms of crime.”

Chorley Lab MP Lindsay Hoyle added: “I welcome the LEP’s campaign to highlight the dangers of the illegal tobacco trade. It’s not only dangerous to health and it is also having a major impact on our retailers and our health agencies.

“I will be pointing out this major impact to the Ex Chequer because ultimately it affects jobs and taxation, and I will be asking what the government is going to do to stop these illicit products getting onto Lancashire’s streets.”

Deprived communities are known to have a higher risk of dying from preventable diseases triggered by smoking, and the availability of illegal tobacco adds to the problem.

Cancer Research UK estimates that illicit tobacco products are responsible for four times as many deaths as illegal drugs.

The trade leads to added pressure on Lancashire’s hospitals and health agencies and ultimately more cost to you, the tax payer – who will on average fork out £100 because of the black market tobacco trade.

Other victims of this underground economy include Lancashire’s corner shops – once the flagstone of our communities.

Traders have told the Evening Post the biggest threat to their business is illicit tobacco and that they find themselves struggling to compete as smokers turn to dealers selling from car boots and ice cream vans.

Less footfall means less sales – and less jobs.

Despite the massive implications illicit tobacco has for our communities and their way of life, the impact is not well publicised, and few people have come forward to police and Trading Standards with information about those plying their trade.

It is thought many people are apathetic to efforts to clamp down on sales of non duty paid tobacco, blaming the Government’s high tax levels on packets of cigarettes as their reason for succumbing to dealers.

The few criminals that are prosecuted usually receive far more lenient sentences that would usually result from a comparatively similar drugs case – though ironically they make much more profit from tobacco than drugs.

Only 133 people were prosecuted for illicit tobacco offences in the UK last year – 16 of those were in Lancashire and mostly in east Lancashire.

Trading Standards are concerned at the discrepancy between calls made by the public in Preston and South Ribble compared to residents in the east of the county.

Staff received half the amount of calls in Preston than they did in Burnley over the same period.

They are hoping people will come forward with information to help root out the criminals targeting these areas.