Colin James Posted July 29, 2014 Report Posted July 29, 2014 Hereford Police were loading bags of cigarettes seized tonight from the 'Kurdish Owned' European shop in Eign Gate.
Colin James Posted July 29, 2014 Author Report Posted July 29, 2014 A couple of guys were taken off in the police cars along with the bags of tobacco taken from the Kurdish owned Zabka shop in Eign Gate Hereford.
Bill Thomas Posted July 29, 2014 Report Posted July 29, 2014 Another scoop for HV, I am sure a few of the European shops have been raided over recent months.
dippyhippy Posted July 29, 2014 Report Posted July 29, 2014 I view this very positively! It seems a ridiculous situation where the world and his brother knows what is going on......and yet it continues. Well done to the local police!
George Armstrong Posted July 29, 2014 Report Posted July 29, 2014 Funny that - because Bobby47 was complaining about just this sort of thing on the Baptist Street Drinkers forum thread just last week... Maybe Bobby47 is a 'MisterBig' in the local Constabulary.
chrisbull Posted July 30, 2014 Report Posted July 30, 2014 People wouldn't have to sell them behind closed doors if they were not so expensive.
mawillimont Posted July 30, 2014 Report Posted July 30, 2014 Yes, the Council's Trading Standards led raids on three Hereford shops looking for illicit tobacco yesterday evening. Police were requested to assist.
bobby47 Posted July 30, 2014 Report Posted July 30, 2014 They're thieves. Nothing more and nothing less and they bring shame and distress upon all the good and honest migrants who settle here to work hard, play by our rules and better themselves. Thieves are what they are. They take advantage of our soft underbelly and welcoming nature and they simply do not care that they are raided and lose the odd batch of hand rolled tobacco and packed cigarettes. These thieves are stealing from you, me and every single person who pay what the Government requires us to pay. This money, that's ours and should be paid into the exchequer gets money laundered, slides away from these shores and ends up providing a wealthy lifestyle to those that willingly cheat us every day and week of the year. Truthfully, and Im not trying to undermine the good work of our Trading Standards people but the profits are so huge, their targets don't care about being raided. In fact, they know its coming and they ensure that a batch of hand rolled tobacco and packed cigarettes are readily available to be seized when the Law come a calling. Essentially there are two streams of revenue for these thieves. The illicit stuff that's of poor quality and nicely packaged that gets driven over and delivered to the safe houses in our City and the mules who get in a van, take the trip to Calais, drive to Tobacco Alley in Adinquerqe, Belgium and purchase more than their personal duty allowance of two and a half kilos. And that is pretty much that. It ain't difficult. It ain't complicated. It's easy and highly profitable and that is why the thieves simply don't care about any future consequences. And once again, with the greatest of respect to Trading Standards, when they catch these thieves my guess is they'll roll over, blame some obscure minority group that's got buggar all to do with it, claim they're being hounded by violent gangsters, leave the Police Station happy that they've provided the authorities with a load of rubbish and round and round we go again. And how do I know so much? Down the pub. Everyone, including the mules talk about it. It's common knowledge and its been going on for years.
Ubique Posted July 30, 2014 Report Posted July 30, 2014 We'll done Trading Standards - keep chipping away - sure that you have more Intellengance on other Eastern Europeon shops in the County. When you do the raids carry on naming and shaming. Colin - well done with this news - hasn't hit the HT web page yet !
M. Preece Posted July 30, 2014 Report Posted July 30, 2014 Best part is that my friend used to work here and the owners are not even Polish, they are from Iraq but unfortunately the Polish people will get the blame.
Ubique Posted July 30, 2014 Report Posted July 30, 2014 Best part is that my friend used to work here and the owners are not even Polish, they are from Iraq but unfortunately the Polish people will get the blame. Problem is that without being a fluent reader of Polish I would suggest that ,in English the sign above the shop says " Polish Shop"
dippyhippy Posted July 30, 2014 Report Posted July 30, 2014 Yes, the Council's Trading Standards led raids on three Hereford shops looking for illicit tobacco yesterday evening. Police were requested to assist. Well done Mark! Thanks for posting this information! It's always good to get the facts straight from the horses mouth, so to speak!
Roger Posted July 30, 2014 Report Posted July 30, 2014 A shop gets a raid and then the issue still persists ... Probably the shop is re-stocked next day ... Obviously a failure at the point of how it gets here ... I know people who stroll in to buy the cheap stuff all the time ... It is kosher I think ... Duty avoided as opposed to being counterfeit.
Roger Posted July 30, 2014 Report Posted July 30, 2014 Best part is that my friend used to work here and the owners are not even Polish, they are Lithuanian but unfortunately the Polish people will get the blame. The shop sign says 'Polish Shop' .... But I suppose the owners might not be Polish ... All very confusing! Loads of levels to this situation I think!
Roger Posted July 30, 2014 Report Posted July 30, 2014 Yes, the Council's Trading Standards led raids on three Hereford shops looking for illicit tobacco yesterday evening. So why is this news being announced on a chat forum when there is nothing on the Council website? Seems arse about face to me ...
TheMole Posted July 31, 2014 Report Posted July 31, 2014 Has anyone been in High Town Hire / Amore lately. A couple of weeks ago there was a hand written sign saying that they has 20 Lambert & Butler (May have been Benson & Hedges i forget which it was). I enquired as to whether they had any, to which the reponse was yes. I then asked how they could sell them at that price and suddenly they had no idea! Hmmm. Not just an Eastern European problem!
George Armstrong Posted July 31, 2014 Report Posted July 31, 2014 Has anyone been in High Town Hire / Amore lately. A couple of weeks ago there was a hand written sign saying that they has 20 Lambert & Butler (May have been Benson & Hedges i forget which it was). I enquired as to whether they had any, to which the reponse was yes. I thne asked how they could sell them at that price and suddenly they had no idea! Hmmm. Not just an Eastern European problem! What was the price? (I'm partial to an L&B or B&H myself from time to time...)
Colin James Posted July 31, 2014 Author Report Posted July 31, 2014 Has anyone been in High Town Hire / Amore lately. A couple of weeks ago there was a hand written sign saying that they has 20 Lambert & Butler (May have been Benson & Hedges i forget which it was). I enquired as to whether they had any, to which the reponse was yes. I then asked how they could sell them at that price and suddenly they had no idea! Hmmm. Not just an Eastern European problem! Oh I totally agree, you can purchase cheap tobacco and cigarettes from many sources I just published this one as I was in town the other night and photographed the raid first hand.
dippyhippy Posted July 31, 2014 Report Posted July 31, 2014 Absolutely Mole - there are a few pubs that sell tobacco "under the counter" as well. I would applaud any initiative that stops this in it's tracks!
bobby47 Posted July 31, 2014 Report Posted July 31, 2014 Here we bloody well go again. It's the bloody British. Fool me for thinking bloody otherwise. Once again, thanks to the New Labour social engineering programme that subjected an entire nation to its doctrine of 'you are a racist if you ever mention a minority group', still, even now, Mole, our wonderful Dippy and God knows how many more, cling onto this warped view that if there is a problem then in the interests of multi cultural dogma we should blame everyone rather than the real source of the problem. We're bloody doomed. I bloody despair. Bloody New Labour. How on earth did they manage to do this to my Country. Our good friend Mole finds one establishment who perhaps have chosen to try and compete with these thieves and sell some illicit contraband and all of a sudden it's, 'hallelujah. Lord be bloody praised. We are all at it'. Good bloody grief! Heaven help me if ever you lot are right and Im wrong! If one more person comes on here and tells me that 'we are all at it' and shifts the blame away from these shops who are stealing from us on an industrial scale Im going to go up the rotten shed, get me Black & Decker drill and give myself a full frontal lobotomy.
mawillimont Posted July 31, 2014 Report Posted July 31, 2014 It is the Council's policy that a press release will be issued by Trading Standards about the outcome of these raids, although this will follow the court case. Presuming the case is successful, Trading Sandards will then release the full details of the individuals prosecuted, substances seized, fines / costs awarded and the names of the shops. Felt it was appropriate to confirm that it was our case and where the operation was etc and hope this helps aswer Roger's question. Marc
dippyhippy Posted July 31, 2014 Report Posted July 31, 2014 Thanks for the clarification, Mark. Out of interest, just how many times would a premises have to be raided, before they can be closed down?? If it is the case that there is so much money to be made, that they are happy to accept the fines, then carry on regardless, at what point can other sanctions be enforced?? Hi Bobby! You know me....there's good and bad in every single walk of life.....I'm not about to change that opinion!!!!
stupidfrustration Posted July 31, 2014 Report Posted July 31, 2014 Nice job mark and thanks for coming on here to post.
Roger Posted July 31, 2014 Report Posted July 31, 2014 It is the Council's policy that a press release will be issued by Trading Standards about the outcome of these raids, although this will follow the court case. Presuming the case is successful, Trading Sandards will then release the full details of the individuals prosecuted, substances seized, fines / costs awarded and the names of the shops. Felt it was appropriate to confirm that it was our case and where the operation was etc and hope this helps aswer Roger's question. Marc Thanks for the reply. I only asked because when three similar Hereford shops (might be the same ones? Who knows?) got raided in February 2014 the news was up on the Council website within 2 days ... Link Here Out of interest, just how many times would a premises have to be raided, before they can be closed down?? I don't think a lot can be done. You can remove an alcohol licence but you don't need a licence to sell tobacco. Here's a conviction for a Ross On Wye supplier ... Link Here He got some supervision/100 hrs unpaid work/£400 monetary penalty.
dippyhippy Posted July 31, 2014 Report Posted July 31, 2014 Gosh, that does surprise me. Would that be the same if it was counterfeit cigarettes or tobacco?? It's quite alarming that a definite stop cannot be put to this.
Roger Posted July 31, 2014 Report Posted July 31, 2014 It's quite alarming that a definite stop cannot be put to this. Here's an old link from the HT website ... 62 kg of hand rolling tobacco seized from a house at Moor Farm in 2011 ... Haven't got a clue what the result was with that but that is 1,240 50g pouches which could have been shifted for something like £8k at street prices ... It's a massive industry. It used to just be the local chancers going round the pubs with a bag but it has now exploded ... I doubt these shops are daft enough to conceal in the shop their entire stock. Probably just enough they can afford to lose in a raid ...
dippyhippy Posted July 31, 2014 Report Posted July 31, 2014 Thanks for the info, Roger! It seems there's a long way to go, to stopping this........
Roger Posted August 18, 2014 Report Posted August 18, 2014 Illicit tobacco seller has to cough up after being caught for second offence 18 August 2014 On Friday 15 August, Ali Omar Shukir (32) from Hereford was sentenced to 300 hours unpaid work and ordered to pay £750 costs by Hereford Magistrates in a case taken by Herefordshire Council. In addition to the penalties imposed, all the non-duty paid tobacco products seized, which have a street value in excess of £4,000, were forfeited for destruction. The duty that should have been paid on these goods amounts to over £10,000. Mr Shukir had taken over the Zabka continental food shop at 16 Eign Gate, Hereford in January this year and immediately started selling illicit tobacco. The illicit goods included fake and unknown foreign brands of cigarettes and hand rolling tobacco. All were non UK duty paid and failed to carry the English health warnings. Smokers were spending money in this shop at the expense of legitimate local retailers. Mr Shukir has a previous conviction for selling illicit tobacco two years ago. Following intelligence received, trading standards officers with the assistance of West Mercia Police and a sniffer dog executed a warrant at the shop. They found a large quantity of illegal cigarettes and tobacco on the premises. The shop was using a sophisticated and ingenious hiding place for storing the illicit tobacco, involving a secret compartment hidden within the building walls, which was covered by kitchen cupboards. This could only be accessed by the use of an electric switch linked to strong magnets. Mike Pigrem, Herefordshire Council’s head of trading standards and licensing, said: “The sale of illicit and counterfeit tobacco is disturbingly still prevalent within the county. However, most consumers will be unaware of the effects such purchases will have on the economy, legitimate businesses and the exchequer nor its potential links to serious organised crime. "Billions in tax revenues are arguably lost each year to the exchequer and the product’s low cost encourages increased and continued uptake throughout the community. Trading standards will continue to tackle such illegal activity and will bring any perpetrators before the courts.†If you have any information on people dealing in illegal tobacco products, please contact Herefordshire Council’s trading standards in confidence on 01432 261761. Herefordshire Council Website The photo from the story is May 2014 so not the raid that started this topic off .... But it's the same shop ... So the shop is probably going to feature in the Courts again this year ... Defendant unknown !!
Ubique Posted August 18, 2014 Report Posted August 18, 2014 Roger , thanks for the update - once again it appears that the HV beaten the HT for the publication of this story which must be of interest to a lot of people. One wonders why the HT do not send a reporter to the local Magistrates Court -or get a copy of the Court list - there must be a number of cases of interest to the locals - disqualified drivers / curfew imposed to name just two.
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