Dogs sniff out illegal cigarettes and tobacco
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DETECTION dogs have helped in the seizure of illicit cigarettes in Moray.
Tobacco and illegally sold cigarettes, worth £6500, have been seized in two separate intelligence-led operations by the Moray Council Trading Standards team.
The haul from the first operation, which took place last week, has been confirmed to be counterfeit, with testing still taking place on the second seizure to check the legitimacy.
The second raid took place this week at business premises where packets of cigarettes were sold without a licence.
Karen Sievewright, the trading standards manager for Moray Council, said: "We have conducted two separate operations, the first one last week was a joint operation with Police Scotland where we executed a warrant at a private house in Moray after intelligence was given.
"We seized a few thousand pounds worth of illicit counterfeit tobacco.
"This week, working on separate intelligence, we seized another substantial amount of tobacco from a business premises in Moray, with the help from Bobby Cranie and the detection dogs.
"The Scottish Government wants a tobacco free Scotland by 2030 so we take our duties extremely seriously with regard to preventing sale to those underage and the controlling of illicit, counterfeit and potentially unsafe tobacco coming into the country so it is a top priority for Moray Council Trading Standards.
"We rely on people coming to us and telling us what is going on. It is very unusual to get two major seizures in such a short space of time, we know it is out there but we just don't know where, so we are asking for the public to help us and report any intelligence of illicit tobacco or sales to underage people as well."
The dog handler was Glasgow-based Bobby Cranie working with his two spaniels, two-year-old Daisy and 10-year-old Dixie who are from Consumer Protection Dogs (CPD), which works with agencies across Scotland in the operation of tobacco detection.
It was young and recently-trained Daisy who managed to sniff out the illicit items. Her handler emphasised this shows that the training is working but said she is still a bit hyper when it comes to the attention after a successful operation.
Mr Cranie added: "Daisy was the one that got this, she is doing well and the next part of her training will be getting used to the media.
"They are working breeds, they are working dogs, they are used for their noses in the wild to track down game as part of their heritage, so we are training them to detect the smell of dry leaf tobacco and they get rewarded with a tennis ball."
Leading the investigation is Sergeant Scott Brander, who said: "Officers work closely with our partners in Trading Standards to carry out operations to target the sale of counterfeit cigarettes, which can result in potential serious health implications for the public.
"An intelligence-led operation was carried out in the Elgin area on Tuesday, March 26 and last week, with £2000 worth of counterfeit cigarettes seized as a result.
"We will continue to work closely with our partners to protect the public from the implications of buying unregulated tobacco products."
