Illegal Cigarettes, Vapes and Tobacco Worth £80,000 Seized from Bensham Shop in the UK

Last Thursday (December 14), officials from the Trading Standards Department and Northumberland Police executed a search warrant at a shop in the Bensham area of Gateshead as part of Operation Vienna.

Officials discovered a small storage area located in the backyard of the shop, hidden behind a false wall.

In this room, a total of 80,340 illegal cigarettes, 40 kilograms of hand-rolled tobacco, and 232 illegal e-cigarettes were found.

The total value of these products was £80,000, believed to have a street value of £40,000.

Officials believe that the illegal items were passed through a window in the shop's toilet area and then placed in the hidden storage area.

This operation is the latest in a series of crackdowns conducted by the Vienna team, which was established several years ago to closely link police and local authorities in combating crime and disorder, responding in real-time to intelligence.

This means that over the past 18 months, the operation has uncovered over £1 million worth of illegal goods in the Gateshead and Newcastle areas.