Thousands of pounds of illegal tobacco found after driver stopped by police

Kiwan Namik Ali, 46, from Gateshead, has now been ordered to pay £1,500 and given an 18-month community order following a prosecution by us.

Ali, of Rawling Road, pleaded guilty to eight charges: two of unauthorised use of trade marks; three of supplying a tobacco product that contravenes the requirement for standardised packaging; and three of supplying a tobacco product that contravenes the requirements for combined health and general warnings.

Durham Crown Court heard Ali's Audi A3 was stopped by police at junction 60 of the A1(M), the Bradbury Interchange, in January of last year.

An officer asked if he had anything illegal in the vehicle and Ali confirmed he had a "couple of boxes" of illegal tobacco which he was taking to somebody in Newcastle.

In Ali's possession, the officer found 16,400 cigarettes branded Richmond, a further 13,200 branded Rothmans and 6kg of hand rolling tobacco branded Turner.

Checks were carried out with British American Tobacco which showed that the cigarettes used the Richmond and Rothmans trademarks without authorisation and were therefore counterfeit. Furthermore, none of the tobacco products complied with regulations on health warnings and standardised packaging.

The court was told the products would have been worth an estimated £8,840 on the illicit market. Similar products, if sold legally, would have had a value of £18,391.

Ali was ordered to pay £1,500 towards costs and given the 18-month Community Order with 30 Rehabilitation Activity Requirement days.

The court also ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the illegal tobacco.

Gary Carr, our strategic regulation manager, said: "Illegal tobacco is damaging in many ways, including making it easier for children to smoke and bringing crime into our communities.

"Mr Ali may have been simply passing through County Durham, but the fact he had illegal tobacco in his car when he was stopped was enough for us to take action.

"We're delighted that the court ordered the destruction of thousands of illegal cigarettes  and hope this case serves as a warning that products like this will be not be tolerated anywhere in County Durham."