CUSTOMS officers seized almost 20,000 smuggled and counterfeit cigarettes in a major operation to tackle the sale of illicit goods in Southend.

Officers from HMRC, Southend Council trading standards and Essex Police raided eight shops, several of them in London Road, Westcliff.

In one shop, the illicit cigarettes were found stashed inside a box of M&Ms in a bid to keep them out of view of inspectors.

However, officers used four tobacco-sniffing dogs to find the hidden items.

They also found rolling 10.8 kilos of rolling tobacco and 136 litres of alcohol, with a combined total of avoided duty and VAT of nearly £8,000.

Mark Flewitt, councillor for public protection, said: "Southend trading standards are committed to tackling the trade in illicit and counterfeit tobacco from receiving and analysing intelligence to conducting inspections and raids on premises where this illegal trade is taking place.

“Intelligence is shared between all partner agencies and yesterday is an example of this collaborative approach, making best use of all resources.”

The raids took place on September 28 and included a storage site in Rochford and a home property.

A van was also seized, along with 2,200 litres of suspected illicit fuel, as part of the day’s action.

Brett Wilkinson, assistant director, Fraud Investigation Service at HMRC, said: “The sale of illegal tobacco and alcohol will not be tolerated by us or our partner agencies.

“Disrupting criminal trade is at the heart of our strategy to clampdown on the illicit tobacco market, which costs the UK around £2 billion a year, and the sale of illicit alcohol which costs the UK around £1 billion per year.

“This is theft from the taxpayer and undermines legitimate traders.

“Tax fraud is not acceptable and we will tackle it head on. We are levelling the playing field for legitimate local businesses who cannot compete with their criminal competitors.”

A woman, 43, from Southend, was arrested by HMRC on suspicion of the fraudulent evasion of excise duty. She has been bailed until January.

Anyone with information about the illegal sale of tobacco to can contact the Customs Hotline on 0800 59 5000.”