When trading standards officers raided the premises they found a stash of fake fags hidden in a secret compartment behind guttering at the rear of the premises.
Shakawan Otham Ali, 35, formerly of New Road, Skewen, and Mansel Street, Swansea, but now of no fixed abode, and Rebin Dhair Sabir, 35, formerly of Glanmor Crescent, Uplands, Swansea had been placed in the store to ‘manage the existing criminal business’ by someone higher up in the organisation. Both men have been jailed for their parts in the profitable operation.
Lee Reynolds, prosecuting, said in March and April 2022 a series of test purchases were carried out at a shop called Swansea Market at 17 St Helen’s Road in Swansea which, at the time, was being run by the defendant Ali.
A search of Ali’s house was then carried out and officers found two large bags and a box which were full of tobacco products as well as £4,845 in cash hidden underneath a bedside cabinet.
Officers also recovered a notebook containing lists and numbers.
The court heard the “street value” of the tobacco and cigarettes seized was approximately £31,941 and that based on the financial details found in a notebook the illegal sales of tobacco varied between £600 and £1,300 per day with an average of around £1,200.
Both previously pleaded guilty to multiple offences of selling illegal tobacco products when they returned to the dock for sentencing.
With discounts for their guilty pleas Judge Catherine Richards sentenced Ali to 12 months in prison and Sabir to nine months in prison. Sabir’s term will run consecutively to the current sentence he is serving.
[Lead image: South Wales Police]
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