Trader fined £4,700 after illicit tobacco found in lining of his jacket

by our Staff Writer | Woolwich

A trader who offered illicit Polish tobacco for sale has been fined £3250 plus £1520 costs, after a sniffer dog discovered cigarettes and rolling tobacco hidden in the lining of his jacket.

Jack the sniffer dog sniffed out hidden packets of cigarettes
that help prosecute Ozcan Bozkurt.
 (Credit: RBG).

Ozcan Bozkurt pleaded guilty on 18 May at Bexley Magistrates Court to offences under the Consumer Protection Act 1987 and the Licensing Act 2003.

The court heard that Bozkurt sold a packet of Polish cigarettes to an undercover investigator who visited his store, Bobeyi Supermarket, in The Village, Charlton, SE7, in September 2014.

On a later inspection in November 2014, a sniffer dog discovered 17 packets of Polish Marlboro Gold cigarettes and nine packets of foreign labelled Golden Virginia hand rolling tobacco in the lining of Bozkurt’s jacket. Further packets of foreign labelled tobacco were found under the main shop counter.

The jacket in which the cigarettes were hidden.
(Credit: RBG)

The offences for which Bozkurt was convicted included having tobacco on sale which has been imported without payment of duty or which might otherwise have been illegally imported.

The prosecution is part of the Royal Borough of Greenwich’s ongoing campaign against illicit tobacco sales.  Since 2013, the Royal Borough has been working with five other South East London boroughs to tackle the sale of illegal tobacco, after a survey of 1,700 smokers found that an estimated 114 million illegal cigarettes, with a street value of more than £22m, were sold annually in the region.

The linning and the evidence.
(Credit: RBG)

Cllr Jackie Smith, The Royal Borough’s Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Environment, said: “The sale of illegal tobacco and alcohol has many damaging effects on local communities and honest business owners.

“It’s an illegal practice that dodges the taxes paid by lawful traders and brings increased health risks that can only undermine the huge work done in education and in helping people quit.”

Cllr Denise Scott-McDonald, Cabinet Member for Community Wellbeing and Public Health said: “The availability of cheap illegal tobacco is a potentially big factor in recruiting young smokers and keeping older people smoking.

“We believe there is a clear link between the availability of illegal tobacco and high smoking rates.”

• Greenwich residents can report the sale of illegal tobacco by contacting the Royal Borough’s trading standards service on 020 8921 8223 or contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
• For help to quit smoking, ring the Royal Borough’s free Stop Smoking hotline on 0800 587 5833 or text ‘Quit’ to 60060 or email: support@greenwichstopsmoking.org.uk.