Organised crime groups are behind the illegal sale of cigarettes and tobacco in the Grimsby area, a senior councillor has said. It comes as significant seizures of illegal goods have taken place in North East Lincolnshire.

The council has said over a thousand illegal cigarettes and several kilos of illicit tobacco were discovered in food delivery bags during recent Grimsby and Cleethorpes raids by its trading standards team and Humberside Police. Cllr Ron Shepherd (Conservative - Scartho Ward), portfolio holder for stronger and safer communities, stated on Wednesday's cabinet live Q&A session that around 50,000 cigarettes were seized in two separate raids this week.

A question was submitted at the Q&A on why are the council not doing more to tackle shops trading in illicit goods. "Raids go on daily," responded Cllr Shepherd.

"We had two early part of this week, with pretty good results. Around 50,000 cigarettes seized on each raid and other activities that were going on."

Cllr Shepherd said some of the issues the council and partners have in tackling the sale of illicit good is that organised crime is behind it. "We have that evidence that organised crime groups are behind the illegal sale of tobaccos and cigarettes."

"We're also needing to gather more intelligence on what those activities are. They're extremely clever, they're extremely robust because we know if we raid them today, they're more or less reopening tomorrow."

The council had looked at closure orders, which can close down a unit for up to three months, and seizures through the Proceeds of Crime Act. But he said the issue with organised crime is it makes it more difficult to get at the people most responsible.

"What we end up with invariably is one person fronting it in the shop, but not the people that are actually organising it." He continued: "If we can break the supply chain and get to those people who are the masterminds behind the sale of these products, then we'll be able to deal with it better."

Intelligence is an important aspect of authority efforts to clamp down on the sale of illegal goods. When the topic was also raised at September's full council, in relation to the recent ban on single use disposable vapes, Cllr Shepherd urged the public to come forward with intelligence.

At the cabinet Q&A, Cllr Shepherd indicated organised crime groups selling illegal goods informed on each other. "I wouldn't rule out the fact that they are almost in turf wars. We get a lot of intelligence being gathered from other suppliers within the area. They tend to want to inform on each other."

"We have clear evidence that it is a lucrative business. It's something that we are determined to put a stop to," he said. Cllr Shepherd said there are ongoing operations he could not go into, but added: "I can assure the public out there that we are doing something about it."

He also issued advice to the public. "Don't buy them: you don't know what they are, you don't know what they're made of, you don't know where the proceeds are going to. All you're doing is encouraging it, so don't do it."

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