Illegal cigarettes and tobacco found in Pontypool shop

Trading Standards officers visited Ponty Market, on Osbourne Road, in February 2020 after receiving a complaint about the business.

Officers discovered £2,200-worth of illegal cigarettes and tobacco hidden behind an electronically-operated false wall at the shop owned by Mohammed Ahmad. 

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Just months earlier – in September 2019 – Trading Standards raided another business owned by Ahmad – on Commercial Street – discovering £1,744-worth of counterfeit and foreign cigarettes in a secret compartment in a table.

Illegal tobacco valued at £391 was also found concealed in a gas cooker at the premises during a joint operation with HMRC officials in December 2019.

In total, 4,480 illegal cigarettes and four kilograms of tobacco were seized from the shops owned by Ahmad.

Illegal pouches of tobacco discovered at a shop in Pontypool. Picture: Torfaen council.

An investigation found some of the cigarettes and tobacco pouches were counterfeit, while others were foreign brands that cannot be sold in the UK. 

It also found Ahmad was the director of a number of companies including Ponty Market Elf Ltd and Vivid Profit Ltd, based in Pontypool, and Quick 1 Shop, in Caerphilly, where counterfeit cigarettes and tobacco had been sold.

It was estimated the value of the fraud was up to £100,000.

On Friday, Ahmad, of Fford Ottoway in Cardiff, appeared at Cardiff Crown Court after previously pleading guilty to operating a fraudulent business and selling illegal, counterfeit and foreign labelled duty avoided cigarettes and tobacco.

He was sentenced to a 12-month suspended sentence, 250 hours of unpaid work, six days of rehabilitation activity, and disqualified from being a company director for five years.

He was also ordered to pay £3,768 in costs.

The judge also ordered forfeiture and destruction of the illegal tobacco.

Tobacco and cigarettes discovered hidden at a shop in Pontypool. Picture: Torfaen council.

Councillor Mandy Owen, Torfaen’s executive member for neighbourhoods, planning and public protection, said: “The sentence is a clear indication of how seriously these offences are viewed by the court.

"The sale of counterfeit goods is not a victimless crime. The council’s Trading Standards Officers play an important role in safeguarding consumers and genuine businesses in Torfaen from risks connected with the sale of counterfeit goods, and the unfair commercial advantage gained by dishonest traders.

"Officers continue to work hard, undertaking inspections and investigations to identify potential breaches of trading standards laws, in the interest of consumer protection."  

Anybody with information on individuals selling counterfeit goods can contact the Trading Standards Service in confidence on 01633 647624 or by emailing tradingstandards@torfaen.gov.uk.