CLOSED: Three more Swansea vape shops shut by magistrates after counterfeit tobacco and drugs seized

Three vape shops on one Swansea city centre street have been ordered to stay shut for three months, after raids found counterfeit goods on sale and police seized illegal drugs.

VH Vape Hub, Kalar Market and Midtown Vape Shop, all on Mansel Street, were raided by Swansea Council‘s Trading Standards team, with local police and immigration officers alongside.

A significant amount of counterfeit tobacco and vapes was seized from the three shops, the council said, while police recovered quantities of illegal drugs from the premises.

All three were issued with temporary closure notices on the spot. Magistrates have since extended the orders, shutting all three for three months.

Notices in Welsh and English now pasted to the shutters declare each business “closed by court order due to criminal activity on the premises”.

It is exactly what the council said would happen. When two shops were shut in June, Trading Standards team leader Rhys Harries vowed: “There’s more to come. We have continued with our intelligence gathering and there will be more closures this year.”

Cllr Andrew Williams, the council’s cabinet member for development, said: “The latest closures are another great example of the work our Trading Standards is doing to disrupt and close down businesses that are operating illegally.

“It’s completely unacceptable for many of these vape shops to operate in the way they are, selling counterfeit goods, particularly to children.”

‘A clear message’

Chief Inspector Andrew Hedley of South Wales Police said the result “sends a clear message that businesses choosing to operate outside the law can expect to face coordinated enforcement action”.

“Counterfeit and illicit products undermine legitimate businesses, pose potential risks to public health, and can be linked to wider criminality,” he said.

“By working closely with Trading Standards and our enforcement partners, we are using all available powers to disrupt those involved and make Swansea a safer place for everyone.”

The closures are the latest in a campaign stretching back years. Nine shops were shut in last autumn’s Operation Ceecee and Marvel, when magistrates extended eight closures and a ninth owner shut up shop for good, with more than £77,000 of illegal tobacco and vapes seized and 11 people arrested.

Swansea has been ranked fifth in the UK for illegal vape seizures, and the council says its test purchasing continues to build intelligence on which shops are selling counterfeit goods.

Cllr Williams said the pattern was national: “Most towns and cities across the UK have seen a steady rise in the number of vape shops opening. Our focus is to ensure these shops are operating legally and importantly, not selling products to children under the age of 18.

“This work will continue in a bid to protect the people of Swansea.”