Yorkshire businessman caught with 20,000 illicit cigarettes admits tobacco smuggling

Rizgar Ismail Aziz originally told Trading Standards officers the illicit cigarettes – and 120 50g pouches of tobacco – were for his own personal use. Neither the cigarettes nor the tobacco carried the prescribed combined health warnings and were not in the required plain packaging.

Aziz, of Broxholme Lane, Doncaster, was stopped by Humberside Police officers in March last year as he travelled out of Grimsby in a van. Upon searching the vehicle, officers found the illicit items which had a street value of £6,320 and a legitimate value of £15,300. The case was then taken up by North East Lincolnshire Council’s Trading Standards officers to investigate.

Despite claiming they were for his own use, the 46-year-old admitted three charges and was sentenced to a 12-month community order, with 150 hours of unpaid work. Aziz was also ordered to pay costs of £560 and a victim surcharge of £95.

Speaking after the court case, Trading Standards Project Officer at North East Lincolnshire Council, Mick Funnell, said: “All tobacco is harmful but illegal tobacco tends to be priced much cheaper, making it easier for children to start smoking and get hooked. Sellers rarely care who they sell to. Fewer people are buying illegal tobacco and fewer people are now prepared to turn a blind eye to it.

“The illicit tobacco trade also has strong links to organised crime and criminal gangs, so those buying these products are often pouring money into things like people smuggling, drug dealing, money laundering and even terrorism.

“Even small-time local sellers are at the end of a long criminal chain – selling illegal tobacco is a crime. People can make a real difference to help keep more illegal tobacco off the streets by reporting it. We need to keep the pressure up on those who continue to sell it.”

Aziz admitted three charges brought under the Standardised Packaging of Tobacco Products Regulations 2015, and the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 and was sentenced at Grimsby Magistrates Court on April 4.