From: ChronicleLive
Specialists staged a special undercover probe into illegal tobacco bought in Newcastle
Fears have been raised that bootleg tobacco sold on Tyneside is riddled with rat droppings and dead insects.
Undercover officers have staged a string of test purchases across Newcastle indicating the sale of illegal tobacco is rife.
Analysts believe the products are being contaminated from dirty, unregulated factories and made with the very cheapest and poorest quality ingredients.
It’s also claimed that children as young as eight are paying 50p per cigarette with bogus vendors targeting the young “to hook children onto a lethal addiction”.
Anti-smoking organisations today said the blackmarket trade in Newcastle had shrunk with less than one in 10 cigarettes bought on Tyneside found to be counterfeit.
