A Cardiff shopkeeper landed in court after his hidden store of illegal cigarettes was exposed. Kovan Nasser was hoarding more than 9,000 cigarettes behind cladding at Santos Off Licence in Canton.
The offences were uncovered in May 2021 when HMRC and trading standards officers visited the Cowbridge Road East convenience shop and "identified an area behind cladding in the back room that was secured with an electromagnetic lock", said a spokesperson for the Shared Regulatory Services.
Inside the officers found a store of counterfeit and illegal hand-rolling tobacco and cigarettes. They seized 9,440 cigarettes and 2.05kg of tobacco. Nasser, 40, initially claimed he "knew nothing about it" but in April this year he admitted four trademark offences, one under tobacco regulations, and one under standardised packaging rules. Cardiff Magistrates' Court heard some of the cigarettes had fake Richmond, Amber Leaf and Lambert & Butler branding.
