Selling counterfeit tobacco leads to prison for Swansea man

A man caught with thousands of counterfeit cigarettes, tobacco and cash in his car in Swansea, has been jailed.

Swansea Council's Trading Standards brought charges against Swansea resident - Adnan Mohamed Abdulla, following a routine stop by police in the city.

During the traffic stop on Gors Avenue on December 10 2023, police discovered more than 45,000 cigarettes, 70 packs of tobacco and nearly £16,000 in cash.

Once Trading Standards were contacted, a number of charges were brought against 36 year-old Mr Abdulla of 12 Harrington Place, Swansea, for fraud and trading standards offences.

The offences were also a follow-up to previous encounters the defendant had with Trading Standards, who had seized counterfeit cigarettes from him at Celine Market - High Street. He had also previously been stopped by police and had cigarettes seized from the vehicle.

Following guilty pleas for 10 offences under the Fraud Act, Trade Marks Act and Tobacco regulations, Mr Abdulla appeared at Swansea Crown Court on Monday January 22 and was sentenced to 16 months in prison.

In court, the judge, Huw Rees, stated that the defendant had been selling a considerable amount of illicit tobacco over a significant amount of time in the city.

The sentence also reflected the persistent efforts to sell the tobacco, despite previous encounters with police and trading standards.

David Hopkins, Cabinet Member for Corporate Services and Performance, said: "Once again, our Trading Standards has worked alongside local police to stop the efforts of individuals, attempting to sell counterfeit tobacco products in our city.

"I welcome the custodial sentence given to the defendant, particularly as previous warnings and encounters with trading standards did not deter him from continuing this illegal activity.

"It's very likely the person involved in the sales of this tobacco was supplying shops in the city, so I am pleased we have managed to slow down the supply of counterfeit products into city shops.

"These cases often take a lot of effort, time and joint working with police to bring forward these cases. I'm grateful for the efforts of everyone involved in continuing to keep the city safe."