A Caerphilly borough shopkeeper has been sentenced for the sale of counterfeit cigarettes, tobacco and vapes.

Azad Ekram Ahmad, 31 of Broadway, Cardiff, was sentenced at Newport Crown Court on October 17.  

He has pleaded guilty to four offences and was sentenced to nine months imprisonment suspended for 12 months, as well as being ordered to complete 200 hours unpaid work, undertake a five-day rehabilitation activity, pay a victim surcharge of £187 and costs to Caerphilly County Borough Council of £750.

At the time of the offences Ahmad was proprietor of Ystrad Mini Market, Ystrad Mynach.  

Caerphilly Council's Trading Standards team made a test purchase of cigarettes from the store in January 2023, having received intelligence that it was being used to sell counterfeit cigarettes. The cigarettes purchased on this occasion were counterfeit.

A few days later Trading Standards raided the premises, accompanied by a tobacco detection dog, where they found concealed behind the counter 8,500 counterfeit cigarettes and just over 2kg of counterfeit hand rolling tobacco.

During the search officers seized 54 illegal disposable vapes, which did not comply with safety Regulations as they contained more than the allowed 2ml of nicotine and were incorrectly labelled.

Officers also seized 35 bottles of foreign labelled Fanta soft drinks, which were not allowed to be sold in the UK as they were not labelled in English, denying customers information on their contents, which could be vital for those with food allergies.

Cllr Philippa Leonard, cabinet member with responsibility for public protection at Caerphilly Council, said: “Illegal smoking products and drinks pose serious risks to consumers’ health.  This case demonstrates the effectiveness of our Trading Standards team in tackling the sale of such items.  We hope that the sentence sends a strong message and deterrent to other fraudulent traders.”