North Somerset premises have been targeted in a crackdown on the sale of illegal alcohol and tobacco.
Officers from both North Somerset and Bristol city councils’ trading standards teams, and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) visited 45 retail and self-storage units across the district and city last week.
Illegal tobacco and alcohol was seized from seven locations in the area.
Premises in Clevedon and Avonmouth were visited as part of the investigation.
In total, more than 250,000 cigarettes, 200kg of hand-rolling tobacco and 50 litres of alcohol – all believed to be illicit – were taken by HMRC’s Tobacco Taskforce.
Tracey Noon, assistant director at the HMRC fraud investigation service, explained the true cost of the crime.
She said: “Disrupting criminal trade is at the heart of our strategy to clamp down on the illicit tobacco market, which costs the UK around £2.5billion per year, and the sale of illicit alcohol which costs the UK around £1.3billion per year.”
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