A TOBACCONIST's shop in Thurrock has been ordered by a court to close for three months and pay more than £4,500 costs after they were prosecuted for selling counterfeit and illegal tobacco and vapes for the second time in less than six months.

Thurrock Council's trading standards team, accompanied by Lily, a tobacco detecting sniffer dog, visited the Mellow Yellow Vape Shack, in Grays, in February. 

The dog found large quantities of counterfeit cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco hidden in the shop, along with illegal vapes that came in packaging targeting children or that were over 10 times the legal tank size.

In the wake of the discovery and owner Amir Ahmadi appearing at Basildon Magistrates Court, he was ordered to keep the shop shut and to pay £4,665.67.

Despite previous seizures and prosecutions, the shop continued to sell illegal goods, changing its operations in an attempt to avoid detection and putting the health of its customers at risk.

This is the second time the Mellow Yellow Vape Shack has been found with illegal and counterfeit tobacco products.

A previous visit to the shop by Thurrock Council trading standards officers in March 2024 found a haul of hidden counterfeit tobacco and illegal vapes. Diyar Yousif, the shop's owner at the time, pleaded guilty to five offences and was ordered to pay out more than £3,000 in fines and costs when he appeared before magistrates last October.

Cllr Victoria Holloway, Cabinet Member for Place and the Environment, said: "There can be no excuse for selling counterfeit and illegal products.

"Our trading standards team are here to protect residents from unscrupulous traders who try to hide their illicit products from our officers.

"In this case they were thwarted by the keen nose of Lily the tobacco sniffing dog and now the owners of the Mellow Yellow Vape Shack will not only have to pay more than £4,500 in costs they also have to shut up shop for three months.

"Let this be a message to any business that thinks it can cheat and endanger its customers by selling counterfeit and illegal goods. Our trading standards team will find you and the full force of the law will be used to hold you to account."

The action was part of the joint HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and National Trading Standards initiative, Operation CeCe, which has been working to seize illicit tobacco since January 2021. 

If you have any information about the sale of illicit tobacco or illegal vapes from this premises or any others you can report (anonymously if you wish) by calling 0808 223 1133 or through our website. 

Residents can also report underage tobacco or vapes sales on Thurrock Council's website at thurrock.gov.uk/underage-sales