A duo from a North East Lincolnshire have pleaded guilty to selling almost 6,500 illegal tobacco and vape products.
6,439 illegal vapes, cigarettes and rolling tobacco were seized by Humberside Police following searches of a shop and vehicle in 2024 – with an estimated legitimate value of £49,817.
In January of that year, police searched the vehicle of Mardi Tahir Karim, 46, of Orchard Drive, Grimsby, after he drove away from a mini market adjacent to his barber shop, that had been subject of a Trading Standards warrant a short time before.
The car, with Karim inside, was later found in Bentley Street, Cleethorpes, with 2463 packs of illegal cigarettes and 97 pouches of tobacco in boxes. When asked, Karim denied knowing what was in the boxes and said that he was asked to deliver them by staff at the neighbouring Shaz Market to an unknown person, believing them to be toys.
In July of the same year, Humberside Police were called to Shaz Market, Grimsby Road, Cleethorpes, after reports of an incident at the shop, leading to the discovery of numerous illegal products.
Upon searching a back room, officers found 3100 counterfeit cigarettes, 6 illegal pouches of tobacco and 773 illegal vapes. The items were then handed over to the Council’s Trading Standards team for further investigations.
As a result, Mohammed Salim Wesoo, 24, of Glenthorne Avenue, Worcester, appeared at Grimsby Magistrates Court on Tuesday, 23 June, to answer a total of 13 charges, eight offences under the Trade Marks Act 1994, two related to the Standardised Packaging of Tobacco Products Regulations 2015 and three under the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016.
When originally interviewed by Trading Standards Officers, he admitted that as the owner of the shop he had purchased the illegal goods from an unknown person as they were cheap and he had seen an opportunity to boost his takings at the shop.
He agreed he’d made no effort to find out if they were legal to sell and was selling them for between £3.00 and £4.00 for the cigarettes and £7.00 to £8.00 for the hand rolling tobacco. The correct selling price at the time of the offences for legitimate tobacco goods would have been £14.50 per pack of cigarettes and £32.50 per 50g pouch of tobacco.
It’s believed the legitimate value of the products discovered at the shop would be worth £10,950. Wesoo pleaded guilty to the charges and received a fine of £810, a Court Surcharge of £324, and was also ordered to pay Council costs of £1065, making a financial total of £2199, which he was ordered to pay at a minimum of £183 per month.
Karim pleaded guilty on Wednesday, 24 June, at Grimsby Magistrates Court in relation to four offences regarding labelling, packaging and flavoured tobacco offences. Magistrates issued a fine of £4000, a Court surcharge of £1065 and awarded Council costs of £1440, a total penalty of £6505 which he was told to pay at a minimum of £200 per month.
Karim has appealed against the sentence. The matter will be listed before the Crown Court, where the sentence will be reviewed.
The legitimate value of goods discovered in Karm’s vehicle is believed to be £38,867. These raids and investigations all are part of Operation Cece – a nationwide effort to tackle the sale of illegal tobacco products.
Since commencement of the operation in 2022, North East Lincolnshire Council’s Trading Standards team has seized over 2,250,000 illegal cigarettes and almost three quarters of a ton of illegal tobacco with a total legitimate value of approximately £2,210,000, and a street value of approximately £706,402.
By law, vapes should have an internal tank capacity of no more than 2ml, and the level of nicotine contained in the vaping fluid should not exceed 20mg/ml (or 2 per cent). Additionally, since June 1 2025, vapes must be refillable, rechargeable and the coil, which heats the liquid to produce the vapour, must also be easily replaceable by the user.
Failure to comply with any one of those requirements would mean the vape is illegal under The Environmental Protection (Single-use Vapes) (England) Regulations.
As with tobacco products, these items are required to display certain health warnings and every such device, and the liquid it contains, should be registered with the MHRA (Medicines and Health care products Regulatory Agency) prior to being released onto the market.
A spokesperson for Humberside Police said: “We hope this latest result around the seizure of counterfeit and illicit products demonstrates our determination to pursue every possible avenue to disrupt those who are involved in this type of criminality.
“Operations such as these are often linked to the funding of organised crime groups, with connections to modern-day slavery and human trafficking.
“These are not victimless crimes and agencies will continue to support one another, acting on information and intelligence that the public provide.”
Councillor Oliver Freeston, Leader and Portfolio Holder for Strategic Renewal, Delivery and Place Leadership, said: “This is a prime example of why this Council is calling a summit on the sale of illegal vapes and tobacco.
“Organised crime has no place in North East Lincolnshire – we and our partners will do all we can and more to stamp out the trade, ensuring the safety of our residents.
“We know this is a something that frustrates the people of this borough and will not rest until we have done our upmost to resolve the issue.”
He added: “I also feel that this is an unduly lenient sentence. The team have worked hard to secure a conviction and, in my opinion, the crime deserved a stronger penalty – something that we will be addressing at the summit.”
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