On the first day, the team and their partners conducted searches at hundreds of storage containers around the Hessle Road area. With the assistance of the sniffer dog, they located and seized more than 150,000 packets of illicit cigarettes and tobacco, as well as cannabis equipment and a large bag of the drug.
The second day saw Hull West and Hull Northern Neighbourhood Policing Teams join the operation. Shops were targeted and warrants were carried out at residential properties. As a result, a further 70,000 illicit cigarette and tobacco were taken off the streets.
The investigation is now being led by Trading Standards. PC Karen Walker, of our Hull Central Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “This was a very successful operation in our fight against illicit cigarettes and tobacco.
“It might seem like we’re just taking cheap tobacco off the streets, but we’re doing it to protect you. These are not victimless crimes. Operations such as the ones we have tackled this week have been used to fund organised crime and have been linked to modern-day slavery and human trafficking.
“We hope that this latest action will send a stark warning to anyone involved in this type of crime, that we will seek every avenue to disrupt them.”
