Sky the sniffer dog has hunted down thousands of hidden illegal vapes and cigarettes as part of a crackdown at shops across Oswaldtwistle and Preston.
Lancashire County Council's trading standards team joined forces with HM Revenue and Customs and tobacco detection dog Sky.
She is a working cocker spaniel from Wagtail UK, whose amazing canines are trained to sniff out hidden compartments of tobacco, vapes and money.
Sky sniffed out illicit goods at all seven Preston city centre premises visited and even indicated that there was tobacco behind a false wall, which officers broke open to find the goods inside.
A total of 1,642 packs of illegal tobacco and 651 non-compliant vapes were seized during the operation on October 25.
The raids took place just days before huge amounts of counterfeit and illicit vapes, cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco were also seized by officers in one of the biggest Trading Standards seizures inOn October 30, the Trading Standards team joined forces again with HMRC and Lancashire Constabulary to seize illegal goods from an empty trade premises next to a shop in Oswaldtwistle.
In total, around 100,000 packs of illegal cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco, and hundreds of illegal non-regulation vapes, with a combined retail value of more than £1.6 million, were seized.
Counterfeit brands included Richmond, Benson and Hedges, and Lambert and Butler, as well as less familiar brands such as Manchester and Sovereign. Packaging used to manufacture counterfeit cigarettes was also seized.
Cllr Michael Green, Lancashire County Council's health boss, said: "Our Trading Standards team go above and beyond in their pursuit of illegal vapes and cigarettes, with unbelievable outcomes.
"Hiring sniffer dog Sky, who did a very thorough job, was a fantastic way of protecting residents from unsafe goods from unscrupulous traders.
"With the help of partners such as Wagtail UK, HMRC and the police, we can tackle rogue traders and find hidden illicit goods.
"Preventing the sale of illicit goods protects public health and keeps children safe from underage sales.
"Our Trading Standards team will continue to keep seizing illicit tobacco and non-compliant vapes and we encourage anyone to report shops that flout the law."
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