UK officials seize ‘£1m’ worth of fake cigarettes

More than £1 million ($1.3 million) worth of counterfeit and illegal cigarettes have been seized following a campaign across central England.

Officials from 14 local Trading Standards areas teamed up to carry out the operation, which was overseen by the Central England Trading Standards Authorities (CEnTSA).

The goods were seized in the last financial year (2015/16) and had an estimated street value of “in excess” of £1 million.

All offending businesses will be subject to a criminal investigation.

One trader has already been forced to pay £6,000 and another handed a 12-week prison sentence, suspended for 18 months.

Bob Charnley, chairman of CEnTSA, said: “It has been a successful year in the fight against counterfeit and illicit tobacco.

“This is down to the effective intelligence sharing and cross-border working between Trading Standards teams across the region.”