Thousands of vapes and cigarettes seized in raids

25 July 2025

Eleanor MaslinBBC News

Illegal vapes and cigarettes were found in hiding places by Humberside Police and Trading Standards officers on Wednesday

Thousands of illegal vapes and cigarettes, hundreds of which were hidden in two loft hatches, have been seized in police raids.

The products were seized from shops in Grimsby on Wednesday during a Trading Standards and Humberside Police operation.

Some were found placed between machinery and in a wall panel.

Councillor Ron Shepherd, from North East Lincolnshire Council, said: "We could raid this today and it will be back trading tomorrow, that's how frequent it's happening."

In the first shop, sniffer dog Griff discovered illegal vapes, cigarettes and hand-rolled tobacco hidden in loft hatches.

Professional dog handler Stuart Philips told the BBC: "They put these concealments up high because they think that the dogs can't detect things high.

"But the dog was on to it, we hadn't even been in the shop for two minutes."

News image — Sniffer dog Griff detected the illegal products with the help of professional dog handler Stuart Phillips

A brown and white spaniel has its mouth slightly open and is looking towards the camera. It's in mid-bark and is leaning against a wooden door. It's wearing a black harness and there is a brick wall behind it. — Sniffer dog Griff detected the illegal products with the help of professional dog handler Stuart Phillips

In the same shop, a "considerable quantity" of illegal vapes were found hidden among electric units in the building.

A further amount of illegal tobacco products were found in another shop, hidden in a make-shift hatch above a door.

A corner shop counter has several bars of Milka chocolate, Haribo sweets and more on red shelves at the front of the till. A police officer can be seen standing in front of the till, with another one stood behind the till. A man in the middle has been blurred out. — Single-use vapes were banned in England and Wales at the start of June

A ban on single-use vapes came into force in June and they must now be reusable, refillable and rechargeable.

They should also have an internal tank capacity of no more than 2ml and the level of nicotine in the vaping fluid should not exceed 20ml, the council's trading standards department said.

Tobacco products must be registered with the Medicines and Health Care Products Regulatory Agency prior to being released on to the market, the council added.

A man with short grey hair is pulling a serious expression for a landscape head and shoulders shot and looking into the camera whilst standing on his side. He is wearing a grey blazer and white shirt with black tie with white dots on it. Behind him is a blurred corner shop and a street stretching out. — Councillor Ron Shepherd of NELC said the selling of illegal vapes and cigarettes was a "recurring problem"

The authority said the operations were carried out to "stamp out the illegal trade of tobacco products in our borough".

Councillor Ron Shepherd, portfolio holder for safer and stronger communities, said the raids had led to "an amazing find".

"Keeping these products, that do not meet safety standards and are putting lives at risk, off the streets is our main priority.

"I hope this acts as a warning to others selling illegal products [that] we will not tolerate it."

Ch Insp Alasdair Booth, of Humberside Police, said the operation had been undertaken "in direct response" to "concerns raised by the local community".

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Large haul of illegal tobacco seized in raids