A shopkeeper was caught selling more than 47,000 illegal cigarettes after an inspection at his store.
Salih Ali, 49, tried to run away from Trading Standards officers when they visited his shop, The Baltic Store, on Whitby Road in Ellesmere Port by fleeing via the shop's back door. He was stopped with bags in his hand which were later found to contain 6,500 cigarettes.
A total of 47,740 individual cigarettes were seized along with £12,685 in cash, found hidden in black plastic bags under a bed and behind the sink in a bathroom. It was apparent to the Trading Standards officers from a visual inspection of the cigarettes that they did not comply with packaging regulations.
