THREE Pembrokeshire sniffer dogs led the way as an estimated half a million pounds of counterfeit cigarettes and tobacco was seized from shipping containers in Kidderminster.
West Mercia Police conducted the raid in the Foley Park area, with officers from the Wyre Forest Safer Neighbourhood Team working alongside Worcestershire Trading Standards.
The raid – on October 15 – formed part of Operation Target, which sees the police work closely with other forces and our partners to tackle serious and organised crime and the harm it causes.
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A team of tobacco search dogs – Bran, Cooper and Griff – identified one shipping container suspected to be involved in the distribution and sale of counterfeit cigarettes and tobacco. This then led to a second container also being targeted.
The large storage units contained scores of boxes and bags of illegal products with an estimated retail value of half a million pounds which were removed by Trading Standards officers.
Lisa Hornberger, the Wyre Forest Safer Neighbourhood Team Inspector, said: “This joint operation with Trading Standards was a big success, uncovering such a large amount of high value counterfeit cigarettes and tobacco following good intelligence work.
“These illegal products would have been destined for black market tobacco sales which are linked to organised crime groups so taking them off the streets has not only protected the public from these unregulated products but also disrupted a wider network of criminal activity that impacts our local communities.”
Working Cocker Spaniel Bran, Cooper – a Fox Red Labrador, and Springer Spaniel Griff are all from B.W.Y Canine in Pembrokeshire.
Across this year, dogs from B.W.Y Canine have been involved in more than 100 operations to tackle the illegal cigarettes and tobacco trade – performing more than 450 searches.
Griff is the newest member of the B.W.Y Canine team, but the training runs in his family – with some of his siblings working as drug detection dogs with the Customs and Immigration Service in Jersey.
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