More than 33 million illicit cigarettes have been seized from local retail outlets in the past year as part of Operation CeCe, a joint initiative between National Trading Standards and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
The haul of illicit products also includes more than 800kg of hand rolling tobacco – with a combined revenue value of nearly £24m.
National Trading Standards said the illicit tobacco trade was driven by organised criminal gangs – often selling from shops and vape stores on UK high streets.
It posed a serious risk to local communities, especially on younger people who can be hooked into a cycle of addiction by the supply of more accessible, cheaper and unregulated illicit tobacco products, it added.
Operation CeCe launched in January 2021 to tackle the illicit tobacco trade. Since then, it has removed 102 million illicit cigarettes, 20,550kg of hand-rolling tobacco and almost 175kg of shisha products from sale.
Since 2023, penalties totalling £3.5m have also been issued to retailers and individuals involved in the sale of illicit tobacco when stronger powers were introduced.
National Trading Standards said the operation had ramped up over the past year, as more seizures are being made across the country to disrupt the supply and trade of illicit tobacco products.
“Illicit tobacco is not a victimless crime,” said National Trading Standards chair Lord Bichard. “It makes cheap tobacco more accessible, particularly to young people, undermines honest local businesses and helps fund organised criminal networks that profit from exploiting communities.
“These latest results show that Trading Standards is building an increasingly detailed intelligence picture of the illicit tobacco trade and using it to target enforcement where it will have the greatest impact. Those who choose to sell illicit tobacco should be under no illusion – the chances of being identified are growing, and we will continue working with partners to disrupt this criminal trade, protect consumers and bring offenders to justice.”
HMRC Fraud Investigation Service director Zoe Gascoyne said: “Illicit tobacco undermines legitimate retailers, funds wider criminality, and harms public health while depriving our vital public services of around £1.7bn a year.
“We will continue to work with partners like Trading Standards to tackle this organised criminal trade that harms our communities. These criminal networks don’t care who they sell to, often targeting underage buyers.
“We urge anyone with information about the smuggling, distribution or sale of illicit tobacco to report it online.”
The new data comes as National Trading Standards launches its new Behind the Butt campaign, supported with funding from HMRC, which aims to shine a light on the issue of illegal tobacco and encourage consumers to report it.
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