FOI Request - Counterfeit Tobacco Seizures
Request 101003811325
Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I am writing to request information regarding the seizure of illegal/counterfeit tobacco and cigarettes within the jurisdiction of Moray Council and subsequent prosecutions initiated by the trading standards officers.
Specifically, I request the following information for each of the past five years, starting from January 1, 2019:
1. Seizure Data:
a) The total quantity of illegal/counterfeit tobacco (e.g., number of cigarettes, kilograms of hand-rolling tobacco, or other relevant measures) seized by trading standards officers each year.
b) The total number of instances (i.e., separate occasions) of such seizures each year.
2. Prosecutions:
a) The number of prosecutions launched by trading standards against sellers of illegal/counterfeit tobacco and cigarettes each year.
b) The number of successful prosecutions each year.
c) The number of unsuccessful prosecutions each year.
Response 22-07-2025
1.
| Financial Year | Quantity of illegal/counterfeit tobacco seized (1.a) | Total instances of such seizures each year (1.b) |
| 2019/20 | • 455 packs cigarettes and 109 pouches of tobacco | 1 |
| 2020/21 | None | |
| 2021/22 | • 200 packs cigarettes | 1 |
| 2022/23 | None | |
| 2023/24 | • 49 pouches of hand rolling tobacco | 1 |
| 2024/25 | • 10 packs of cigarettes • 1 pack of rolling tobacco • 28 packs of cigarettes • 9 Packs of cigarettes |
3 |
| 2025/26 | None | |
2.a)-c) The low numbers (between 1 and 5) associated with this response may result in the identification of individuals. Therefore this response is exempt under Section 38(1)(b) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 - personal information.