Illicit tobacco being sold in Angus is funding organised crime and threatening local businesses, an expert has warned.
Angus Council’s senior trading standards officer Brian Smith said the links are the same as they are for drugs, arms and people trafficking.
He was speaking this week ahead of a summit at the Webster Theatre in Arbroath where he delivered a speech on the county’s illicit tobacco trade.
Mr Smith said rogue tobacco traders are undermining public health messages and profits are being used to fund organised crime.
He said: ”If you want people to give up smoking then having cheap tobacco available in the community is not a way of helping. Illicit tobacco is supporting criminals, undermining the health efforts and there are implications for the local economy because it’s unfair competition for the shopkeepers.
”The harm to the individual and the community is significant from a health perspective and to opening a door to crime. If people get used to dealing with criminals then where does it stop? It’s a slippery slope.”
Mr Smith said his previous experience of the illegal DVD trade in Angus suggests some of the people involved could essentially be slaves.
”People don’t think when they are buying their illicit tobacco of someone locked in a room 24 hours a day, six days a week, packing the product. In reality that is the kind of thing that can happen. There always is a bigger network with counterfeit products such as the trade in DVDs which is not as prevalent now because of downloading.
”In Angus we were picking up people selling DVDs who were illegal immigrants. They had been victims of human trafficking and were essentially slaves. If they weren’t doing DVDs they were involved in prostitution and they were probably involved in other areas of organised crime such as running or cannabis dens.
”Once these people are in these environments they are controlled and if they try to escape they get beaten up or killed. This is what happens UK-wide and we can’t say it exactly happens like that in this area but there is such a normal pattern that elements of that are likely.
”There are links with organised criminals involved in drugs, violent crime, illegal money lending and they are being fed by the people who are buying the product.
”The main thing we really need is people to come forward and say where they are aware of the existence of illegal products. We can never succeed in getting rid of everything illegal but you can try and disrupt the distribution network and prosecute those behind it.”
Mr Smith was one of the keynote speakers at the joint meeting of the STCA Tobacco Control Issues Group and the Angus Tobacco Control Alliance. Scottish Trading Standards and health experts in tobacco control were hosted by Angus Council and NHS Tayside at the event.
Mr Smith believes the illicit tobacco trade could be an attractive risk-to-reward ratio for criminals because it carries less severe penalties than other areas such as drugs.
He said: ”You get mind-blowing figures. It’s estimated that China alone produces 100 billion packets of illicit tobacco a year.
”If they aimed it at the UK market how many packets of illicit tobacco could everybody smoke? The UK is a target because of the high price of tobacco.”
Photo by David Jones/PA Wire