Police shut shop and flat after illegal items found

A city centre shop and a flat have been closed down after police found "illicit products" including Viagra tablets, cigarettes and more than £14,000 in cash.

Peterborough's Neighbourhood Support Team (NST) carried out a warrant at International Food Store in November and discovered illegal products with "links to organised crime".

A man in his 30s was arrested on suspicion of tax evasion and money laundering, and a man in his 40s was arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply Sildenafil. They have been released on bail, Cambridgeshire Police said.

A full closure order was served on the premises in Lincoln Road after an application was granted at Huntingdon Magistrates' Court on Tuesday.

The closure, in place until 30 March, states both premises are closed "to everyone except for emergency services and employees of Peterborough City Council and their agents", the force said.

PC James Rice, from the NST, said: "While Sildenafil is not classed as a controlled drug, it is only permitted to be sold by pharmacies, which this shop is not.

"We have been working closely with Peterborough City Council, Trading Standards and immigration enforcement and found the shop was mishandling its waste, selling illicit cigarettes and had a suspected illegal worker.

Anyone living on the premises has until 10 January to leave or they will be in "breach of the order, which is a criminal offence that could result in imprisonment of up to three months, a fine, or both", it added.

The force said it found 683,400 cigarettes, hand rolling tobacco and cigars, all deemed illegal by Revenue and Customs.

In total £14,886.20 in cash and large sums of foreign currency was discovered, along with a substantial amount of Sildenafil tablets, a prescription drug commonly known as Viagra.

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