Illegal cigarettes with street value of £280,000 found in cars, garages and houses across South Yorkshire

More than 47,000 packets of illegal cigarettes and tobacco, worth a street value of £280,000, have been seized in raids at premises across Doncaster.
By Lucy Leeson
Published 2nd Dec 2019, 16:19 BST

The six-month-long investigation, ran by Trading Standards, has led to six individuals being prosecuted for the illegal products.

Premises targeted include Asia and European Food City, International Food Store and Warszawa situated on Copley Road and Europa Mini Market located at Holmes Market. All were caught selling and storing cigarettes that were illegal to sell in this country. They did not comply with current packaging requirements, were likely to fail safety standards or were outright fake.

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A large proportion of the haul was found in vehicles and residential premises, including the rented property of one of the six individuals. Sanah Mirza’s home in Edenthorpe was searched following his arrest and in excess of 33,000 packets of cigarettes were found in his garage.

More than 47,000 packets of illegal cigarettes and tobacco, worth a street value of 280,000, have been seized in raids at premises across Doncaster.More than 47,000 packets of illegal cigarettes and tobacco, worth a street value of 280,000, have been seized in raids at premises across Doncaster.
More than 47,000 packets of illegal cigarettes and tobacco, worth a street value of 280,000, have been seized in raids at premises across Doncaster.

Sheffield Crown Court ordered the illicit stash to be destroyed when Mirza, a worker at Asia and European Food City, pleaded guilty to offences. He was sentenced to 250 hours unpaid work and to pay a £2,000 contribution towards prosecution costs.

Other individuals sentenced for offences stemming from the operation included: Rizgar Aziz (Europa Mini Market) and Bahman Safee (Warszawa) who were both given suspended prison sentences after the court had been made aware that they had previous convictions for committing similar offences.

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Between them they were also required to pay a total of £4255.72 towards the council’s cost to bring the prosecutions.

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More than 47,000 packets of illegal cigarettes and tobacco, worth a street value of 280,000, have been seized in raids at premises across Doncaster.More than 47,000 packets of illegal cigarettes and tobacco, worth a street value of 280,000, have been seized in raids at premises across Doncaster.
More than 47,000 packets of illegal cigarettes and tobacco, worth a street value of 280,000, have been seized in raids at premises across Doncaster.

Bestoon Ali Mahmood admitted selling cigarettes at Asia & European Food City and was fined £1,080 when a previous similar conviction was taken into consideration, while Sarwan Mauloud of International Food Store was fined £180 and Ali Mahmoodpur a worker at Europa Mini Market was fined £200.

Dr Rupert Suckling, Director of Public Health at Doncaster Council, said: “The supply of cheap cigarettes is undermining the ongoing effort to get people to stop smoking, particularly young people who might then go on to become addicted to a habit that prematurely kills over half of its users. The fact they are illicit also increases the risk that there are additional toxic elements increasing their risk further.”

Peter Dale, the council’s Director of Economy and Environment, said: “Illicit trade has a significant negative impact on legitimate businesses that comply with the law. Complying with the law is not an option, it is an absolute requirement. The council will therefore continue its robust approach and will pursue those who flout the law until we achieve 100 per cent compliance.”