Two shops close in illegal cigarette crackdown

Sam's Mini Market

We took legal action against Saman Hama Saied, of Brooklyn Street in Crewe, for the sale of illegal cigarettes and tobacco at his former shop, Sam's Mini Market in Chester-le-Street.

Peterlee Magistrates Court heard that Saied took over ownership of Sam's Shop in July 2021.

Between December 2021 and March 2022, our Trading Standards officers found Saied to be selling cigarette and tobacco products labelled as Richmond, Amber Leaf, Marlboro, Pride, American Red, Turner, and L&B. Upon inspection, however, it was found that these items were counterfeit.

The 41-year-old pleaded guilty to 44 counts of selling counterfeit cigarette and tobacco products - 22 counts against himself and 22 against his company, Sam's Store Limited. He was given a 12-month community order of 150 hours unpaid work and ordered to pay a total of £6,000 costs, a £2,000 fine, and £914 victim surcharge.

Community impact

Joanne Waller, our head of community protection, said: "Illegal cigarettes, tobacco, and vapes have serious negative impacts on our communities. Not only does this attract crime to neighbourhoods and make it easier for children to access age-restricted products, it also adversely affects compliant businesses by taking away their revenue.

"These hearings show we are taking significant action as part of our commitment to cracking down on the sale of illegal cigarettes, tobacco and vape products. We would urge members of the public with any information on the suspected sale of illegal items to report it to us, so that we can investigate and act."

Shop closures

We also obtained closure orders for two shops following a crackdown operation last month across Spennymoor, Willington, and Bishop Auckland.

During the investigations, we seized illicit cigarettes and tobacco worth over £16,000 from three shops and a car.

One closure order was sought for The Americano on Newgate Street, Bishop Auckland, after officers seized 300 cigarettes, 1.15kg of tobacco, and 270 electronic cigarettes all suspected to be counterfeit or in breach of regulations.

A second closure was sought for Shop N Go on Willington High Street, after 3.85kg of tobacco, 1,640 cigarettes, and 22 electronic cigarettes were seized, also all suspected to be illegal products.

Peterlee Magistrates Court granted three-month closure orders for both premises on the grounds there had been criminality at them which had caused a serious nuisance to the community. Costs, totalling £1398.56, were awarded against Shop N Go.