Falkirk Council and Police Scotland join forces to stub out illegal tobacco trade

A total of 11,080 sticks of cigarettes and 4.05kg of hand rolling tobacco were taken from vehicles after officers served search warrants for two vehicles to be searched

and involving the use of a trained sniffer dog.

Further inquiries are ongoing following the seizure, which took place near Falkirk’s Grahams Road, and a full report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal in due

course.

The tobacco was a mixture of non-duty paid, counterfeit and “illicit/cheap whites”, which do not have the reduced ignition propensity (RIP) feature and, as a result, are potentially dangerous.

The RIP feature restricts oxygen access to the burning end of the cigarette, causing the cigarette to go out if not “puffed” by the smoker, thus reducing the risk of fires.

The bust and seizure were part of Operation CeCe which has been ongoing since 2021 and an accumulation of surveillance work and intelligence from members of the

public.

Councillor Stacey Devine, Falkirk Council spokesperson for public protection said: “Thanks to the work of Trading Standards and Police Scotland, these tobacco

products have now been removed from circulation.

“This type of operation is illegal and can lead to involvement in far more serious crime so clamping down on offenders is really important to disrupt supplies.”

People can e-mail [email protected] if they have any information regarding the supply of counterfeit and illicit tobacco.