The closures affected premises across the borough which were turning over more than £3,000 a day in illicit tobacco and vapes sales. The businesses were also linked to far more serious criminal activity, including money laundering, child sexual exploitation (CSE) and manslaughter.
The borough’s partnership enforcement team (PET), made up of council and police officers, worked intensively with landlords to facilitate the closures without the need to attend court and spend substantial time and money getting a closure order which would likely only be granted for 3 months.
18 premises have been closed down in this way, with 12 of these closing their doors in the past year. Intelligence shows that landlords are often unaware of what their premises are being used for, so are willing to engage with the relevant agencies.
These businesses are also linked to illegal immigration and modern day slavery, often bringing new, undocumented arrivals into the illicit trade in exchange for accommodation and cash. The problems are not unique to Rochdale, with town centres up and down the country tackling the same issues.
The partnership enforcement (PET) team, whose work was recently showcased in the hard hitting BBC documentary, The Detectives, is made up of officers from the council’s enforcement teams, who work with the police and other key agencies to tackle criminality across the borough.
Councillor Danny Meredith, cabinet member for housing, said:
“The misery that these criminals inflict on our communities cannot be underestimated. The sale of cheap cigarettes might seem harmless, but for the people behind this trade, is just a small part of a much bigger empire, which can involve drug dealing, CSE and even manslaughter.
“We want to target these big fish, and these closures will severely disrupt their business operation, making the streets that bit safer for everyone.
“This is the result of years of hard work by the team, building up relationships and gathering intelligence so they can understand how these criminals operate and how we can hurt them and I’m really proud of the work that they do.”
Anyone who has concerns about illicit tobacco and illegal vapes, can contact trading.standards@rochdale.gov.uk
