WATCH: How we’re tackling the murky world of illicit tobacco and vapes

This week we are diving deep into the murky world of illicit tobacco and vapes. We're uncovering hidden truths about shops selling these illegal goods, with a special focus on the East of the county in this mini-series.

These shops are often a front for other serious criminality such as money laundering, illegal working, human trafficking, and drug supply. Many of the shop workers are victims, trafficked into crime by profiteers. These illegal activities harm legitimate businesses and fund further crimes, often monopolising high street spaces, driving out lawful small businesses. Our communities bear the brunt, facing anti-social behaviour, underage sales, and drug offences.

The sale of illicit tobacco products isn’t just a public health issue — Lincolnshire Police and partners are tackling these highly complex crimes head-on. 

Criminals go to great lengths to hide their illicit goods. The catalogue of videos shown here reveals some of the devious tactics used to hide their underworld activity.  Many of these shops are run by highly coordinated organised criminal gangs - underscoring the gravity and sophistication of the criminal activities we're confronting in the battle against illicit tobacco sales.

As you can see, some of these hiding spots are pretty good, if not ingenious.  But we're better. The body worn video, courtesy of Trading Standards, shows some of the hides used by criminals. As ingenious as they may look, every single one was discovered.

This mini-series will be sharing insights on how we work closely with multiple partners: Trading Standards, Lincolnshire County Council, Boston & South Holland District Councils, Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue, HM Revenue and Customs, and the Home Office for Immigration Enforcement, to name a few.

Stay tuned to our Facebook and Nextdoor channels (Lincolnshire Police, South Holland Police and Boston Police accounts) for eye-opening posts about these seemingly innocuous shops. You won’t want to miss some of the revelations we have in store.

The fight against illicit tobacco and vapes is just the tip of the iceberg. Together, we can uncover and disrupt a myriad of hidden criminality. Stay informed and vigilant.

You can help us by reporting instances of illegal tobacco sales or associated criminality. This helps us to build a better intelligence picture, to better evidence criminal activity, and to proactively disrupt these organised criminals.  

Reporting is easy via CrimeStoppers.  It's 100% anonymous:

• Call: 0800 555 111
• Give information online via: https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information