£600,000 haul of illegal vapes, cigarettes, and counterfeit Labubu dolls seized in West Yorkshire raids
Almost £600,000 worth of illegal goods have been seized in a series of raids targeting cash-intensive high street businesses in West Yorkshire suspected of laundering money through mini-markets, vape shops and barbershops.
Throughout October, West Yorkshire Trading Standards, together with the National Crime Agency (NCA), West Yorkshire Police, and other partners, carried out a series of raids across Leeds, Wakefield, Bradford, Kirklees, and Calderdale as part of Operation Machinize: a coordinated crackdown on high street crime.
Officers seized over 450,000 illicit cigarettes, 42.5kg of illegal rolling tobacco, and more than 5,200 illegal vapes. Other illicit items seized include over 250 counterfeit clothing items, out-of-date or incorrectly labelled food items, unsafe cosmetic goods, and counterfeit Labubu dolls.
Cash seizures were made at two shops with premises closure orders and applications to remove alcohol licences being pursued, while West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue also seized a large quantity of fireworks.
Councillor Melanie Jones, chair of the West Yorkshire Joint Services Committee, which oversees the work of Trading Standards, called the illegal sale of tobacco and vapes a “blight on our high streets” which allows criminal gangs to prosper while undermining the health of communities and impacting legitimate businesses.
She said: “West Yorkshire Trading Standards' involvement in this nationally coordinated operation demonstrates their commitment to working with partners to tackle crime on the high street for the benefit of our communities across West Yorkshire.”
The crackdown is part of the NCA’s nationwide efforts to disrupt cash laundering in the UK and involved Trading Standards teams across the country working alongside local police forces and Home Office Immigration Enforcement.
Across the country, operations resulted in 2734 premises raided, 924 individuals arrested, and over £10.7 million suspected criminal proceeds seized. The raids also saw the seizure of 111,000 illegal vapes, 4.5 million illegal cigarettes, and 622kg of illegal tobacco.
Linda Davis, head of West Yorkshire Trading Standards, added: “This series of collaborative action taken across West Yorkshire is designed to reinforce the message that illegal traders are not welcome on our high streets. The sale of illicit goods by high street businesses costs government millions each year in lost revenue and is unfair competition on other local retailers. We know that those involved in selling illegal tobacco and vapes are often selling these products to children too.
“By taking part in this month of action and working with partners as part of Operation Machinize, we have taken a significant amount of illegal goods, including harmful tobacco and vapes off the streets of West Yorkshire, preventing them from being purchased by children and disrupting organised criminality and money laundering. We will continue to support the NCA and our partners to disrupt such organised criminality on our high streets.”