Illegal supersize vapes, fake designer mobile phone covers and sweets with additives banned in the UK were among items seized by London law enforcement following a £55,000 raid on one of the West End’s American Candy Stores.
Following an investigation, a team of officers recovered 2,200 items worth around £55,000 at what is understood to be the Basic Mart store on 4 Oxford Street.
Supersize vapes many tanks more times the size of the UK legal limit of 2ml and sweets banned in the UK due to their ingredients, such as Swedish Fish and Hot Tamales sweets, were some illegal items discovered at the premises.
Officers also found vapes with twice the legal amount of nicotine and fake designer mobile phone covers.
Adam Hug, leader of Westminster City Council, said this significant haul from just one shop shows the “scale of the problem” the city faces.
“Suspected illegal goods continue to flood into the country and central London. As a council we do what we can making life difficult for unscrupulous traders through enforcement action and pressure on landlords,” he explained.
“On the wider stage we are also campaigning for changes to company registration to make it harder for dirty money to circulate in London.”
He added: “We are dealing with people who are quite prepared to peddle excessively strong vapes and banned sweets to children.
“But more trading standards raids are on the way in the coming weeks, so anyone who thinks they can drag down the reputation of Oxford Street with this tawdry trade can think again”
Today’s discovery comes as London officials have been cracking down on the number of illicit stores which invested the retail drag during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Last May, there were around 27 ‘candy stores’ in operation but this has now been whittled down to 21, as Westminster City Council attempts to repair the street’s image.