Drugs found during illicit tobacco investigation

14 March 2017

A haul of class B drugs estimated to be worth approximately £100,000 and 1,500 fake DVDs have been discovered by council officers as part of a long-running illicit tobacco investigation.

Officers from Southwark Council’s trading standards team executed two entry warrants and attended two self-storage units in pursuit of members of an organised criminal gang involved in importing and distributing counterfeit tobacco. During the investigation, they had identified two individuals wanted by the police after absconding during previous prosecutions by the council. 

Mr Xing Cao Xue, was wanted for fraud and trade mark offences in relation to counterfeit tobacco production in Camberwell in 2012 and had failed to turn up at court last year. Yesterday, with the support of the police, Mr Xue was sentenced to 15 months (seven and a half months imprisonment and seven and a half on license). The judge also ordered that he be deported at the end of the sentence. 

The other person arrested, Mr Rui-Xing He, had been sentenced to 22 months imprisonment back in 2014 for DVD fraud when 50,000 DVDs were seized from a manufacturing unit in Peckham. Last month at the Inner London Crown Court, Mr He was handed an extra four months for bail offences and will now serve a total of 26 months in prison.

Police seized the drugs haul and local CID made a further arrest in connection with that.

Councillor Barrie Hargrove, cabinet member for communities and safety, said: “The links between the illicit tobacco trade and more serious crimes such as drug dealing, are just one of the reasons the council is determined to clamp down on the supply locally. The unregulated substances pose serious health issues and fire risks as they do not comply with national manufacturing standards. Due to the excellent work of our officers, we now have two serious criminals and a large quantity of harmful drugs off the streets of Southwark.”

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