Over £44,000 worth of illegal vapes seized from shops after reports of children buying them

More than 3,000 illegal vapes worth almost £45,000 were taken from shops and seized by police in Salford on Tuesday (July 18).

The announcement comes a day after police said concerned residents had been reporting that children as young as 11 were buying the counterfeit electronic cigarettes in Salford.

As part of a major crackdown on crime in the region, Operation Avro is a force-wide initiative that sees extra resources and specialist officers tackle a different district each month.

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In Salford on Tuesday (July 18), Neighbourhood Teams, along with Trading Standards Officers visited 16 shops selling illegal vapes with 3,734 illegal vapes seized, amounting to £44,808 worth of products.

The estimated minimum profit lost was £22,404. Trading Standards are now utilising their powers against the illegal sale offenders, police said.

In a statement, police said they had received concerning reports that children as young as 11 were being sold 'dangerous, counterfeit nicotine vapes' at local shops in the area and that the illegal vapes are 'bad for public health' and also 'fund organised crime'.

Just last week in the region, thousands of illegal vape products were also seized during a clampdown on underage e-cigarette sales. Trading Standards raided shops across Bolton and took away 2,270 vape products after many concerns were raised about the illegal sale of vapes to under-18s.

The news comes days after local authorities in England and Wales called for disposable vapes to be banned in the UK by 2024 on environmental and health grounds.

As well as the seizing of counterfeit e-cigarettes, weapons and drugs warrants were carried out across the