COUNTERFEIT cigarettes and illegal tobacco have been seized in a major operation by Swindon Council and Wiltshire police.

There were raids on four stores in Manchester Road yesterday morning and in one, which cannot be named for legal reasons, 340 suspected illegal cigarettes and 400g of tobacco were found.

The operation, codenamed Levi after one of the sniffer dogs taking part, saw trading standards and police search stores across town after intelligence suggested some were involved in the sale of fake or non-duty tobacco.

It was the first time sniffer dogs, provided by private firm Wagtail UK, have been used in a trading standards operation in the town.

Later in the day trading standards officers also visited up to a dozen other premises across the town.

Phil Thomas, the head of public protection for the council, said: “These were co-ordinated raids with police and sniffer dogs on shops we have gathered intelligence on.

“Our main concern is any link to organised crime but there are also the health implications of counterfeit cigarettes.

“The problem is everywhere, it is nationwide – 10 per cent of all tobacco products are illicit.”

PC Paul Bezzant, of the town centre neighbourhood policing team, said: “This trade can have impacts on the community and we know from past experience there is a link to other criminality.”