By Sammie Jones-
A Norfolk businessman has been given a suspended sentence after being caught with plenty of illegal cigarettes.
29 year old Sarhad Salari, 29, who runs the Kubus East European Market on London Road, King’s Lynn, was found with illegal tobacco and cigarettes. His business was raided by Norfolk Trading Standards, in a joint operation with police.
During the first raid in September, a police sniffer dog uncovered 6,150 packets of cigarettes and tobacco hidden in a compartment.
Salari was not deterred by the first raid, and continued to deal in illegal cigarettes. When officers suddenly raided his premises again in November,2016 they found a further ,3140 packets of illegal cigarettes, and more tobacco hidden behind a fridge.
A third raid in January,2017, revealed 320 packets of illegal cigarettes and tobacco in a storeroom. The sale of illegal cigarettes is not uncommon in Britain, and mr.Salari is not the only store owner selling illegal cigarettes. Many store owners hide their illegal cigarettes behind the counter, running the risk of being caught by the authorities. The illegal cigarettes sold by mr.Salari did not have the required health warnings on them, but even if they had the warnings, he would not have escaped the full force of the law for selling illegal cigarettes.
Prosecutor, Jamie Sawyer, told Norwich Crown Court that Salari’s shop sold a legitimate range of cigarettes, and that he was aware of regulations,
Salari, of Bridge Road, Long Sutton, admitted selling illegal cigarettes and packets without the required health warnings.
Judge Anthony Bate ordered a six month jail sentence suspended for two years, in addition to 300 hours unpaid work.
Salari has now lost his alcohol licence because of it, and now faces the prospect of becoming bankrupt. His continuance of the illegal sales after the initial raid was a mark of stupidity and disregard for the law. The sale of illegal cigarettes normally add to the profit revenues of businessmen, but mr. Salari claims not to have made much money from the illegal sales. He certainly made no money from the cigarettes seized during the raid, but would have made good money prior to the raids.
A friend of Salari’s who insisted on anonymity, told the eye of media.com ” he would have been put in some debt after the first raid, but the next batch of cigarettes was intended to recoup the financial losses from the first batch. It may appear to have been stupid of him to have replaced the illegal batch, but he would not have expected to be raided again after the first raid. The stuff about health warnings not being on the illegal packet is rubbish, because people smoke fags whether there are warnings there or not. The only reason people are nicked for these illegal cigarettes is because the government are not earning taxes from it, that’s what it is about, and you and I know it”, he said.
Well, the reason people get arrested for illegal cigarettes is because they are illegal, and the illegality of the sale is sufficient for an arrest and a conviction. Salari will now have to crack his head on how to compensate for his losses and re-establish himself in some other business. There will be no more room for him to sell illegal cigarettes through his shop, but if this guy is determined to sell these cigarettes, he may still do it it discretely on the streets.