Illegal cigarettes and vapes worth £100k seized

More than £100,000 worth of illegal cigarettes and vapes have been seized as part of an operation to tackle serious and organised crime.

Police, Trading Standards and HM Revenue and Customs officers raided five storage units around the Ribbleton and Deepdale areas of Preston, Lancashire.

In one of the units, illegal vapes worth about £5,000 were seized, in another, 171,000 packs of illegal cigarettes were found, which, if sold as genuine, would be worth about £100,000, Lancashire Police said.

The force said the cigarettes and vapes could "contain harmful chemicals" which could lead to people becoming "very unwell".

Insp Dave Byrne said it was a "successful operation" which had meant the items were "taken off the streets and are no longer at risk of getting into the hands of children".

"We have unfortunately seen cases where people have become very unwell, sometimes even hospitalised, due to the use of illegal vapes so we will continue to work with our partners to ensure they are not able to cause harm," he said.

Joshua Roberts of Lancashire County Council, said: "It is very important that we take the strongest possible action against firms who put the health of Lancashire's residents at risk."

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