NINE tonnes of illegal vapes seized at port

100,000 ITEMS HAD BEEN DECLARED AS PERISHABLE FOOD

- By STEVE BAGNALL Daily Post Reporter

NINE tonnes of illegal vapes were seized at Holyhead Port, after an Anglesey County Council trading standards operation.

The businessman who imported the haul must pay more than £30,000 in fines and court costs after they were found in a refrigerated unit.

They had been declared as “perishable food” but will now be destroyed after breaching UK regulations.

A council spokesperson said: “More than 100,000 non-compliant vapes were imported by Ibrahim Shafi, 34, of Clarence Street, Blackburn and SpeedDrop Logistics Ltd (of which Mr Shafi is the sole director) on 11th October 2023.

“In a prosecution brought by the Isle of Anglesey County Council at Mold Magistrates Court today (Tuesday, January 13th) both Mr Shafi and SpeedDrop Logistics Ltd pleaded guilty to three charges under the Tobacco Related Products Regulations 2016 in relation the importation of 109,600 individual Hyati Pro 4000+ vapes, equating to 9000kg (9T) through the Port of Holyhead.

“The vapes’ tank sizes were five times larger than the maximum permitted and did not contain the required safety leaflet, relevant contact details nor the required health warning covering a third of the packaging.”