{"id":849900,"date":"2026-03-25T18:52:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T18:52:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/849900\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T18:52:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T18:52:18","slug":"birmingham-24-7-shop-has-thousands-of-illegal-items-seized-in-raid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/849900\/","title":{"rendered":"Birmingham 24\/7 shop has thousands of illegal items seized in raid"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A raid of a shop led to the seizure of a illegal cigarettes, tobacco, vapes, nitrous oxide and a car &#8211; with arrests made<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Some of the illegal cigarettes and nitrous oxide seized in the Sparkbrook shop raid \" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0_BCC-raid-1.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p aria-label=\"Some of the illegal cigarettes and nitrous oxide seized in the Sparkbrook shop raid \" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Some of the illegal cigarettes and nitrous oxide seized in the Sparkbrook shop raid <\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">A joint operation by Trading Standards officers and police in <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.birminghammail.co.uk\/\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\">Birmingham<\/a> has led to a huge discovery of illegal cigarettes, tobacco and vapes and a big quantity of laughing gas.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">A raid was carried out by <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.birminghammail.co.uk\/all-about\/birmingham-city-council\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\">Birmingham City Council<\/a> officers, supported by <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.birminghammail.co.uk\/all-about\/west-midlands-police\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_self\">West Midlands Police<\/a>, at a \u201824\/7 shop\u2019 in <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.birminghammail.co.uk\/all-about\/sparkbrook\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_self\">Sparkbrook<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Officers searched the shop premises and two vehicles associated with it and found a large illicit haul.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">Read more: <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.birminghammail.co.uk\/news\/midlands-news\/undercover-sting-catches-birmingham-shops-33632984\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_self\">Undercover sting catches Birmingham shops selling illegal tobacco from just \u00a34<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">This included:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"UnorderedList_unordered-list__gzblI\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"unordered-list\">\n<li class=\"LiItem_li-item__IF4xI\">6,320 illicit and counterfeit cigarettes;<\/li>\n<li class=\"LiItem_li-item__IF4xI\">59 packets of illicit vapes;<\/li>\n<li class=\"LiItem_li-item__IF4xI\">1,750 grams of suspected Amber Leaf hand-rolling tobacco;<\/li>\n<li class=\"LiItem_li-item__IF4xI\">68 large bottles of nitrous oxide, recovered from an abandoned vehicle linked to the business<\/li>\n<li class=\"LiItem_li-item__IF4xI\">One vehicle<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">All of which were seized, with two arrests made, and \u2018further enquiries are ongoing\u2019.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Trading standards officers from Birmingham City Council, working with West Midlands Police, raided a shop in Sparkbrook seizing illegal cigarettes, tobacco, vapes and laughing gas with two arrests made  \" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0_Bcc-raid-2.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p aria-label=\"Trading standards officers from Birmingham City Council, working with West Midlands Police, raided a shop in Sparkbrook seizing illegal cigarettes, tobacco, vapes and laughing gas with two arrests made  \" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Trading standards officers from Birmingham City Council, working with West Midlands Police, raided a shop in Sparkbrook seizing illegal cigarettes, tobacco, vapes and laughing gas with two arrests made  <\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Sajeela Naseer, director of Regulation and Enforcement at Birmingham City Council, said: \u201cIllegal tobacco, counterfeit products and the unlawful supply of nitrous oxide are serious threats to public health and community safety.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u201cThis operation shows our continued commitment to working closely with <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.birminghammail.co.uk\/all-about\/west-midlands-police\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\">West Midlands Police<\/a> to protect residents and disrupt those who profit from criminal activity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u201cWe will not hesitate to take robust action against anyone involved in the sale of illegal and potentially dangerous goods.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Large nitrous oxide bottles, more commonly known as 'laughing gas' were among the illegal items found stuffed in a vehicle in Sparkbrook \" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0_BCC-raid-4.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p aria-label=\"Large nitrous oxide bottles, more commonly known as 'laughing gas' were among the illegal items found stuffed in a vehicle in Sparkbrook \" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Large nitrous oxide bottles, more commonly known as &#8216;laughing gas&#8217; were among the illegal items found stuffed in a vehicle in Sparkbrook <\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">Read more: <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.birminghammail.co.uk\/news\/midlands-news\/traffic-chaos-birmingham-caused-one-33649020\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_self\">Traffic chaos in city caused by one-way system aimed at easing it<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The city council encouraged residents to flag up any suspicious or illegal activity they spot in their area, such as the sale of illegal goods.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">They should be reported to Birmingham Trading Standards on 0121 303 9360 or West Midlands Police on 101.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A raid of a shop led to the seizure of a illegal cigarettes, tobacco, vapes, nitrous oxide and&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":849901,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[7820],"tags":[855,984,748,393,4884,55105,16,15,7830],"class_list":["post-849900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-birmingham","tag-birmingham","tag-birmingham-city-council","tag-britain","tag-england","tag-great-britain","tag-sparkbrook","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-west-midlands-police"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116291328408980130","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=849900"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849900\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/849901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=849900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=849900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=849900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}