£3.5M tobacco haul

A £3.5m haul of tobacco and cigarettes being sold illegally in Dumfries and Galloway was uncovered by police. Police operations, supported by Trading Standards and HMRC investigators, resulted in half a million dodgy ciggies and 110 kilos of tobacco that had been smuggled into the region illegally. A three-month crackdown was launched earlier this year and searches uncovered huge amounts of tobacco products. Details were revealed at Dumfries and Galloway Council’s police, fire and rescue sub-committee earlier this month. Chief Superintendent Steven Meikle told councillors: “We’ve seen significant results in relation to targeting counterfeit and illegal tobacco and other products being sold within our communities. “Police led operations in July and September, in partnership with Dumfries and Galloway Council Trading Standards and HMRC, which resulted in approximately half a million cigarettes, 110 kilos of tobacco, and £15,800 in cash. “A total sale value of the goods removed was approximately £3.5 million. That equates to roughly about £373,000 in unpaid tax.” Meanwhile, police also launched ‘Operation Believe It’ and drugs crackdowns several months ago. Chief Superintendent Meikle explained: “This resulted in 55 stop searches, eight drug supply charges, 35 drug possession charges, 360 intelligence logs, £80,000 in cash recovered and restrained, and £70,000 worth of illegal drugs. “In addition, at Cairnryan Port, 50 half kilograms of cannabis up to a value of £110,000 pounds and 356,000 tablets were recovered.” He added: “I’m also pleased to say that we’ve seen a significant reduction in youth offending during this calendar year by potentially as much as 200 crimes compared with last year.” It was previously reported in October that drugs worth over £51,000 were recovered in Dumfries and Galloway after Police Scotland executed 20 search warrants in a proactive two weeks. The biggest single seizure was an estimated £40,000 worth of cannabis from an address in the Heathhall area of Dumfries, following the investigation into drug importation. In total approximately, £6250 of Class A drugs, £45,000 of Class B drugs, along with £75,000 in cash, had been seized. And this time last year, police also reported taking drugs worth nearly £1 million off Dumfries and Galloway streets within an eight-month period. Following a tip-off, a large-scale cannabis farm was discovered by officers in Dumfries town centre – valued at more than half a million pounds.

Meanwhile, road traffic cops uncovered around £300,000 worth of various drugs when stopping and searching vehicles between April and September last year.