City shopkeeper jailed for tobacco tax dodge
Summary
Marking the biggest ever discovery of illicit and contraband cigarettes and rolling tobacco, a prosecution from Gloucestershire County Council‘s Trading Standards Service has landed a city shopkeeper in jail. Idris Amin , 32, of Vicarage Road, Gloucester, was locked up for 28 months after being found guilty for an illegal trading operation that centred on his outlet, A2Z Shop , at 156 Southgate Street.
Details
More than 50,000 packets of cigarettes – amounting to a million cigarettes in total – plus nearly 500 pouches of hand rolling tobacco were found at a flat close to the shop, while a team including sniffer dogs unearthed a large haul of contraband kit in a storage yard container in Kidderminster.
Amin, aged 32, of Vicarage Road, Gloucester, appeared at Gloucester Crown Court on Wednesday May 20 for sentencing, having pleaded guilty to two counts of intentionally evading duty on cigarettes and tobacco which he had in his possession for sale. Jason Poole , head of Gloucestershire Trading Standards and Consumer Protection, said the haul of one million cigarettes was “10 times more than we’ve ever seized before”.
The court was told that undercover officers posing as customers discovered how Amin would “pop out to a flat over the road” to collect requested items – intentionally keeping the contraband goods away from the shop’s display. Handing out the sentence, the judge said that only jail was appropriate because of the seriousness of the offences.
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The court heard that Amin operated A2Z Shop on Southgate Street, having originally secured a lease using false ID. When officers raided his flat, he was found with 2,284 packets of cigarettes and 117 pouches of hand rolling tobacco.
Trading Standards said: “The tobacco had not had the relevant duty paid on it, it was incorrectly labelled for the UK market and much of it was a counterfeit copy of well-known brands.” The tobacco was found in a food delivery bag and neatly stacked on a shelf, and had been stored in the flat rather than the shop to avoid detection during inspections.
Around a month later, officers visited the Kidderminster storage location and found two containers which been rented by Amin using false identification.
“Between them, the two containers contained 50,796 packets of cigarettes and 499 pouches of hand rolling tobacco – the largest ever seizure of illegal tobacco by Gloucestershire Trading Standards.” It had also not had the relevant duty paid on it, was incorrectly labelled and much of it was a counterfeit copy of well known brands. Amin admitted to being the owner of A2Z Shop and to selling illegal tobacco.
Report source: Punchline Gloucester