Ozzie, a three-year old sniffer dog used by Dudley Council’s Trading Standards team, has helped to find more than 6,100 illegal cigarettes and more than 2kg of illicit tobacco.
The black Labrador, assisted by his canine partners in solving crime, Milo, a spaniel, and Murphy, a fellow black Labrador, visited shops and homes in Dudley, Brierley Hill, Kingswinford and Stourbridge, that had been suspected of selling or hoarding unlawful tobacco.
This nasally-skilled trio sniffed out packets that may have been impossible to find without their specialist sense of smell, which is tens of thousands of times more sensitive to odours than humans’.
The haul included counterfeit and non-duty paid tobacco products, which cannot be legally sold in the UK. In addition to tobacco, officers also found counterfeit or illegal alcohol and DVDs. Staff who led the raids are delighted with the results.
Ozzie found one stash of tobacco hidden in the base compartment of a kitchen cupboard.
Councillor Stuart Turner, cabinet member for health and wellbeing, said:
“This is an excellent result. Sniffer dogs are trained to find the smallest amount of tobacco products, which is really important, because these products are unregulated and could be far more harmful to people’s health than tobacco or cigarettes alone.
“We hope that we are sending a strong message to people who deal in counterfeit tobacco that we are watching you, and if we catch you we will seize your products and prosecute you.”
Anyone with information on the sale of illegal tobacco should call Dudley’s Trading Standards team on 01384 814600. This is a confidential 24-hour voicemail facility.
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