MORE than 10,000 cigarettes and 4.5kg of tobacco has been seized following an unannounced inspection.
Wiltshire Trading Standards officers, assisted by Salisbury Police, seized the goods from a shop in Salisbury.
Wiltshire Trading Standards said: "The items seized are believed to be a mixture of illicit whites – cigarettes mass-manufactured using fake brand names to be illegally imported into the UK and counterfeit cigarettes – illegally manufactured imitations of established brands. "
"As the manufacture of illicit tobacco products is completely unregulated customers have no way of knowing what harmful substances they contain.
"Previously seized products been found to include a variety of dangerous chemicals, asbestos and even rat poison; they also often lack the ability to self-extinguish if left unsmoked, posing a fire risk."
An investigation is underway following the seizure.
The sale of illicit tobacco can be reported at https://www.swillegaltobacco.info/
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