Hundreds of illegal vapes and more than a thousand counterfeit cigarettes were seized in a raid on a series of shops in a busy town centre.
Kent Police teamed up with Kent County Council (KCC) to check the compliance of various disposable e-cigarette and other smoking devices earlier this month.
Three businesses inspected in Ashford, which have not been named, were found to have illegal products – with 880 vapes, 1,680 cigarette sticks, 600g of hand rolling tobacco, and 66 tubs of nicotine pouches seized.
These were products which did not meet the UK’s safety standards – either because they were over the size of a legal product or because they did not have the correct labels and warnings.
Experts warned that this poses serious health concerns – and can encourage children to smoke or vape due to the cheap prices.
Jim Whiddett, trading standards operations manager, said: ‘The teams have seen various types of illegal vapes, the largest being a 15,000 puff device with a single tank – well over 20 times the size for a legal product.
‘They are also seeing devices without the correct labelling or warnings, meaning they have not passed the appropriate checks to ensure they are safe to use, therefore increasing the risk to consumers.
‘Trading Standards will continue to remove illegal tobacco, vapes, and nicotine pouches from shops in Kent as this illegal activity brings criminals into our communities and can also encourage children to smoke or vape due to the cheap price of the products.’
PC Aaron Hobday, from Ashford’s Beat Team, added: ‘As neighbourhood policing officers, we use any information we pick up during our beat to keep people safe, be that from crime or illegal products like these.
‘By working with Trading Standards in this instance, we are helping to keep Ashford safe and preventing potentially dangerous products from being sold to the public.’
Mr Whiddett added: ‘It is clear from some of the evidence that some shops are continuing to supply illegal products despite the team’s advice.
‘We will continue to work with partner agencies to engage with retailers to ensure compliance or disrupt this illegal activity with further interventions when appropriate.’