TO BAC C O
ILLICIT TRADE IMPERIAL TOBACCO
Imperial Tobacco steps up fight against illegal tobacco
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A new anti-illicit trade website is part of Imperial’s ‘Suspect it? Report it!’ campaign.
mperial Tobacco has launched a new anti-illicit trade website as part of its continued ‘Suspect it? Report it!’ trade campaign to tackle illegal sales of tobacco. The redeveloped website, launching on 1 September, is set to continue as a valuable resource for information about the illegal tobacco problem in the UK, with the site containing information about the latest developments in illicit tobacco via an updated news page and Twitter feed. James Hall, Anti-Illicit Trade Manager at Imperial Tobacco UK, said: “Our aim is that this redeveloped site will help retailers to remain vigilant and raise awareness of the scale of the problem at hand.”
Imperial removes gantries from retailers convicted of selling counterfeit tobacco Imperial Tobacco has removed gantries from Bolton and Banbury-based tobacco traders after the discovery of violations of the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016. Zeashan Muhammad Din, of AHZ News in the Breightmet area of Bolton was convicted by magistrates for possession of counterfeit tobacco after pleading guilty to a total six offences relating to 15 packets of Richmond cigarettes, nine packets of Lambert & Butler and seven packets of hand-rolling tobacco.
A raid by trading standards resulted in Din’s premises licence being revoked by Bolton Council and he was ordered to carry out 70 hours of unpaid work. In addition, Din was banned from being a company director for five years and
ordered to pay costs of £2,000 towards Bolton Council’s prosecution costs, plus an £85 victim surcharge. Banbury shop owner Narinder Singh Malhotra, of Rowley’s Food, was ordered to pay back £75,000 after trading standards seized nearly 3,000 illegal cigarettes. Malhotra and the company were sentenced to fines of £2,450 each and ordered to pay £75,000, alongside £6,220.70 in prosecution costs. The retailers will no longer receive sales support from Imperial Tobacco.
WEDNESDAY 4TH AUGUST 2021 / ISSUE 67 / SLRMAG.CO.UK / 17
