September 19, 2014 4.49 pm This story is over 114 months old

Lincoln shop owner prosecuted for illegal cigarettes

Portland Street raid: Community orders and fines totalling £2020 have been handed to a Lincoln shop owner and employee for selling fake cigarettes and tobacco.
Kubus on Portland Street in Lincoln. Photo: Google Street View

Community orders and fines totalling £2,020 have been handed to a Lincoln shop owner and employee for selling fake cigarettes and tobacco.

Lincolnshire Police officers raided the Kubus convenience store on Portland Street in July 2014.

With the help of a tobacco detection dog, they found 5,400 illicit and counterfeit cigarettes and 1.1kg of hand-rolling tobacco hidden in both a car and the property.

Walid Aziz, the shop owner, and Heresh Rasol, an employee both appeared at Lincoln Magistrates court this week and were prosecuted by Lincolnshire Trading Standards.

Aziz was found guilty and given a 12 month community order with an unpaid work requirement of 220 hours.

He was also ordered to pay £1500 towards legal costs and a £60 victim surcharge.

Rasol, who pleaded guilty to five out of six charges, was also given a community order of 12 months, with an unpaid work requirement of 120 hours.

He was ordered to pay £500 towards legal costs and £60 victim surcharge.

Chad Saratoon, Senior Trading Standards Officer at Lincolnshire County Council, said: “Shops which sell fake cigarettes and tobacco are conning consumers and selling them a product which may contain dirt, unregulated chemicals and even dead flies.

“The products could be potentially unsafe and as Trading Standards Officers, we work to protect consumers and genuine retailers selling genuine products and crack down on offenders who don’t.”

Anyone who believes a trader in Lincoln is supplying illegal, fake or duty free goods such as cigarettes, should call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.