'Local businessman' caught with £80k worth of illegal tobacco, vapes and fake stamps

A 'local businessman' was caught with a huge haul of suspected illegal tobacco and vapes and fake stamps in Leigh.

Police carried out a raid at first floor premises above a food outlet on Railway Road on Sunday, September 10. The warrant was to arrested a wanted male.

But he was not there, and instead officers found thousands of pounds worth of suspected counterfeit cigarettes, vapes and stamps. They seized them from the property.

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In a post on the GMP Leigh Facebook page, police said the products had a street value of around £80,000. In total, 5,168 packs of cigarettes were found - worth £31,000.

Around 1,305 disposable vapes were found, worth £13,000, and 22,500 counterfeit stamps were uncovered, worth £36,000. Police said Wigan Trading Standards will now investigate.

"They will be investigating the known local businessman who is responsible for this large haul; one of the biggest ever seizures of this kind in the Wigan area", officers added.

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