Illegal Tobacco and Vape Crackdown: Thousands of Counterfeit Products Seized Across Hartlepool...
- teessidetoday
- Jul 16
- 2 min read
HM Revenue & Customs raids a premesis in Hartlepool under 'Operation Rover'.... Seizing Thousands of pounds worth of Counterfeit Tobacco & Vapes...
16th July 2025
A major multi-agency crime fighting operation has reportedly led to the seizure of tens of thousands of illicit cigarettes, kilos of illegal hand-rolling tobacco, and hundreds of banned disposable vapes from businesses and storage sites located in Hartlepool, Teesside...
The sting—codenamed Operation Rover—was carried out by Hartlepool Borough Council’s Trading Standards Team in partnership with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) as well as officials from Hartlepool’s Neighbourhood Policing Team. The coordinated action was said to have targeted six retail premises and five storage facilities across the town, all identified using tip-offs and intelligence provided by the public and operational partners, including the national "Keep It Out" campaign.
The operations said to have resulted in the recovery of:
30,400 cigarettes
17.25 kilograms of hand-rolling tobacco
180 disposable vapes
One of the more alarming discoveries reportedly came when officers, aided by a specialist detection dog, uncovered concealed stashes of counterfeit goods hidden behind a false panel as well as other secret compartments. Grif, the dog, handled by Stuart Phillips of Stu Phillips K9 and working on behalf of HMRC, proved instrumental in locating items that would have otherwise gone undetected.
Councillor Karen Oliver, Chair of the Council’s Neighbourhood Services Committee, stressed the wider impact of these illegal products:
“We are determined to clamp down on the sale of these illegal products which pose a serious threat to public health and which also have a significant impact on the local economy by undermining the viability of legitimate businesses.”
She added that self-storage units are increasingly being used by criminals as a way to avoid detection:
“Hopefully, these visits will help to spread the message that using these storage facilities isn’t a fool-proof way of hiding illicit goods.”
Chief Inspector Andy Liddell from Hartlepool’s Neighbourhood Policing Team reinforced the dangers posed by illegal tobacco and unregulated vapes:
“Illegal tobacco and vapes can cause real harm to our communities; with unregulated sales of vapes to underage people and a detrimental effect on legitimate businesses.”
“We know illegal tobacco can be used to directly fund organised crime and through this partnership working, we are protecting people and cutting off the income stream to criminals.”
Members of the public are urged to keep on reporting suspicious activity or knowledge of illegal tobacco sales anonymously via the Keep It Out campaign website:
Ongoing Investigations
While no arrests were reported at the time of the operation, investigations are said to be 'ongoing'. It is expected that further enforcement action will follow, depending on the outcome of inquiries.
