{"id":16825,"date":"2026-04-18T22:28:55","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T22:28:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/16825\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T22:28:55","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T22:28:55","slug":"police-high-five-after-shops-illegal-tobacco-stash-uncovered-behind-trap-door-in-london-road-dover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/16825\/","title":{"rendered":"Police high-five after shop\u2019s illegal tobacco stash uncovered behind trap door in London Road, Dover"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Dramatic footage shows the moment police discovered illegal tobacco products hidden behind a trap door in a shop.<\/p>\n<p>Officers, alongside Kent County Council\u2019s (KCC) Trading Standards team, carried out a series of visits across Dover on Friday, April 10.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"rthmb\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=\" http:=\"\" viewbox=\"0 0 969 625\" alt=\"Police seized illegal tobacco products after a shop&#x2019;s hidden stash was uncovered beneath a trap door. Picture: Kent Police\" data-root=\"\/_media\/img\/\" data-path=\"G2N6DTZFJ5P26G23O62X.jpg\" data-ar=\"1.55\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/G2N6DTZFJ5P26G23O62X.jpg\" alt=\"Police seized illegal tobacco products after a shop&#x2019;s hidden stash was uncovered beneath a trap door. Picture: Kent Police\"\/>Police seized illegal tobacco products after a shop\u2019s hidden stash was uncovered beneath a trap door. Picture: Kent Police<\/p>\n<p>Thousands of pounds worth of illegal products were seized as part of the operation, which targeted the sale and supply of illicit cigarettes, tobacco and vapes.<\/p>\n<p>During one visit to a business in London Road, officers discovered a purpose-built trap door beneath a desk, concealing a large quantity of tobacco.<\/p>\n<p>Although the owners denied selling any illegal products, they are now subject to an investigation by KCC Trading Standards.<\/p>\n<p>Officers found several similar stashes across the businesses visited, seizing and destroying hundreds of products.<\/p>\n<p>Chief inspector Liz Cokayne-Delves said: \u201cThe measures taken to conceal illegal products make it clear that those responsible are fully aware of the harm they cause.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese goods are unregulated and often dangerous to consume.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe will continue to work with partners such as Trading Standards to identify and disrupt businesses supplying illicit products.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jim Whiddett, operations manager for KCC Trading Standards, added: \u201cFrom false walls to fake shower units, it never ceases to surprise me where officers find hides.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut wherever it&#8217;s stashed, the devastating impacts of illegal tobacco is the same.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt undercuts legitimate businesses, puts cash into criminals&#8217; pockets and makes harmful products easier for young people, and anyone trying to quit, to buy.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"rthmb\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=\" http:=\"\" viewbox=\"0 0 623 472\" alt=\"Thousands of pounds worth of illegal products were seized as part of the operation in Dover. Picture: Kent Police\" data-root=\"\/_media\/img\/\" data-path=\"0N3LX5M57M9ICV00J7DK.jpg\" data-ar=\"1.32\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0N3LX5M57M9ICV00J7DK.jpg\" alt=\"Thousands of pounds worth of illegal products were seized as part of the operation in Dover. Picture: Kent Police\"\/>Thousands of pounds worth of illegal products were seized as part of the operation in Dover. Picture: Kent Police<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe will continue to work with partners like Kent Police to tackle this illegal activity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The public can also help by anonymously reporting shops selling illegal tobacco to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or via the Crimestoppers website.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dramatic footage shows the moment police discovered illegal tobacco products hidden behind a trap door in a shop.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16826,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[61,1087,309,5,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-16825","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uk","8":"tag-crime","9":"tag-dover","10":"tag-kent","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116428076662886877","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16825"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16825\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}