More Illegal Tobacco seized in Great Yarmouth inspections

More than 40,000 illicit cigarettes have been seized from businesses in Great Yarmouth, alongside 13.8kg of hand rolling tobacco, in a series of inspections.

Four businesses in Great Yarmouth were inspected on the morning of Wednesday 10 June 2026 by officers from Norfolk Trading Standards, Norfolk Constabulary, HMRC, Great Yarmouth Borough Council and the Home Office. Illicit goods were discovered at all four and seized as part of Operation CeCe.

Graham Crisp, Norfolk County Council's Head of Trading Standards, said: "A third round of seizures in short order shows the scale of the challenge these criminal enterprises present, and also the success of the intelligence led work carried out by our teams.

"Each seizure of unsold, illegal goods is another round of cash that won't be reaching the criminals supplying these cigarettes, and that won't be used to fund more crime in our communities.

"Thank you to all those involved: the intelligence needed to make these inspections a success doesn't come about overnight, and I know the Trading Standards, Police, Council, HMRC and Home Office officers involved have put a lot of work in to close down these operations and keep our residents safe."

This action is part of ongoing efforts to tackle the supply of illegal tobacco products in Norfolk. The problem of illegal tobacco goes beyond the impact to the local economy through unfair competition and lost duty. Many of the retailers involved are selling to young people at low prices. Some of these retailers may be involved in organised criminal gangs and could be connected to other crimes such as modern-day slavery and human trafficking.

This comes shortly after earlier inspections in Great Yarmouth and Norwich identified and seized over 33,000 illicit cigarettes and other tobacco products over the past few weeks.

James Wilson, Head of Environment and Sustainability at Great Yarmouth Borough Council, said: "This successful operation clearly demonstrates the value of our co-ordinated work with our police, Trading Standards and HMRC partners. The action was taken as part of ongoing activity to tackle illegal trading activity in the borough and those engaging in this type of behaviour should be on notice: if you choose to trade illegally you are on our radar and we will act decisively. People in Great Yarmouth want a town that is safe, welcoming and that we can all take pride in and this type of operation forms part of our focus to deliver on those aims.'"

Wednesday's preplanned activity has been undertaken under Operation CeCe. Operation CeCe is a joint HMRC-National Trading Standards operation which has been working nationwide to seize illicit tobacco since January 2021.

Anyone with information about illegal tobacco sales can help by reporting it through the following channels:

• If you are being coerced into preparing, distributing or selling illegal tobacco, you can report it to HMRC online by searching 'report fraud HMRC' on GOV.UK, or by contacting the HMRC Fraud Hotline on 0800 788 887.
• Members of the public wishing to report illegal sales of vapes, cigarettes or tobacco can contact Citizens Advice by calling 0808 223 1133.