Raided Birmingham shop found with scores of illegal vapes '30 times legal limit'

A Birmingham convenience store was found to have illegal vapes '30 times the legal limit'. It was raided by Trading Standards officers and West Midlands Police as part of Operation Cloud last night, Tuesday, November 26.

The 24-hour shop, on a prominent city street, had scores of the disposable vapes openly on sale behind the till. The highest strength seen on sale for £10.99 had 18,000 puffs in it. The legal strength is 600 puffs, with a maximum nicotine strength of 20mg/ml.

Counterfeit cigarettes were also found stored in an outbuilding behind the shop during the raid, which was joined by BirminghamLive. Trading standards inspectors said the haul was typical of the "money and greed" attitude they saw from some owners of city shops.

READ MORE: 'Dangerous and untested' sex pills and laughing gas 'enough for 5,000 balloons' found in raid at city shop

Mohammed Tariq, a senior trading standards officer for Birmingham City Council, told BirminghamLive: "The message is strong - If you're selling these illicit goods, in particular the dangerous goods - we'll be out there, seizing stuff, making arrests, clamping down, and making closure orders.

"We find illicit goods everywhere, we carry out routine inspections and are intelligence-led. This sort of stuff is available everywhere as there's money to be made. Our concern is about the consumers."

Asked what motivated the illegal sale of the illegal items, he said: "It's money and greed at the end of the day. They are openly selling this stuff."

A second shop, just yards away, was also targeted in the same operation. Up to 70 large nitrous oxide canisters - known as laughing gas - were found stored in an outbuilding behind that shop and in the back of an untaxed car. The laughing gas haul could also be enough to fill more than 5,500 balloons.

It also had scores of illegal vapes openly being sold behind the counter. A teenager found working at the shop was arrested for not providing his details to officers. Cannabis, suspected Class A drugs and blue sex pills were also seized. A car, which had nitrous oxide canisters in the boot, was removed due to it being untaxed.

Items seized will be tested before later being destroyed. Further Birmingham businesses will also be targeted as part of the ongoing operation, which aims to disrupt criminality.