POLICE and Trading Standards officers smashed down the door of a house in search of illicit tobacco.

Attempts to tackle the trade in fake products usually focuses around shops selling them under the counter.

Yesterday, officers targeted a home in central Southend as part of a joint operation following reports about a suspected seller. The exact location of the property is not known.

A police sniffer dog was used to find dozens of pouches of counterfeit tobacco - as well as about 40 small bags of cannabis.

Sgt Ian Hughes, from the Southend community policing team, said the joint raid was carried out as a result of intelligence received by officers.

He said: “It was a warrant with a positive result for cannabis and for illicit tobacco.

“We had a drugs warrant and we enlisted the support of Trading Standards because we had intelligence that tobacco was being held there as well.

“The investigation is ongoing.”

A woman was detained at the house and was being questioned on suspicion of possession of cannabis at the time the Echo went to print.

Carl Robinson, interim director of public protection at Southend Council, said illicit tobacco has serious health implications.

He said: “Southend Council supported Essex Police on the raid of a home in the borough, assisting with the identification and seizure of a consignment of tobacco. The operation is part of on-going work to keep counterfeit and smuggled cigarettes off our streets.

“While some people view selling under-the-counter cigarettes as a victimless crime, Trading Standards teams have previously found counterfeit cigarettes containing asbestos and human excrement, posing a massive risk to anyone smoking them.

“What’s more, the production and sale of counterfeit cigarettes is linked to large-scale organised crime, diverting £3billion in unpaid duty away from public services such as the NHS, and often into the pockets of crime bosses.

“Our priority is to keep the public safe and ensure consumers know what they’re buying.”

Anyone with information can call police on 101 or visit southend.gov.uk to contact Trading Standards.