A local ‘dog detective’ has helped Westminster City Council expose illegal cigarettes valued at over £8000.
According to the council, Doris the labrador played a ‘key role’ during raids undertaken by the local authority and the police on Edgware Road, which involved officers being ‘led by the sniffer dog’ to locate £8,250 worth of illegal cigarettes.
The former police dog accompanied the team to two shop addresses, one of which contained 500 packs of illegal cigarettes and 150 single use vapes.
The local authority has confirmed that over 250 illegal food products were also found at both shops, such as snacks and flavoured drinks with ingredients that are banned in the UK.
Cllr Aicha Less, Westminster City Council's cabinet member for public protection, said: ‘Doris the dog detective certainly proved her worth in rooting out suspect cigarettes. The reality is there is no way of knowing what is in these kinds of products - while they will no doubt be sold at a cheap price, it is a pricey gamble on your health.
‘With the support of police, our trading standards and environmental health food officers have been able to take hundreds of suspect products off the streets. Our job is to ensure shoppers in Westminster get what they pay for, and with Doris - the long arm of the paw - we will keep doing that.’
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