Trading standards and police have closed yet another business for selling illegal tobacco – despite repeated warnings and dramatic attempts to escape with contraband.
On Wednesday, 26 November, District Judge Smith at Exeter Magistrates’ Court granted a three-month closure order on The Mini Market, 156 Cowick Street, Exeter.
The order follows a joint operation by Heart of the South West Trading Standards Service and Devon & Cornwall Police.
This is the 14th closure in six months, with previous shutdowns in Honiton, Exmouth, Plymouth, and Torquay.
The court heard the shop’s proprietor ignored repeated warnings, continuing to sell illegal tobacco worth over £11,000, seized during five separate raids. Officers described multiple attempts to flee with illicit goods:
- May: 436 packs of cigarettes and 89 pouches of tobacco seized from a man escaping through the rear entrance.
- August: Police intercepted a vehicle linked to the shop carrying more illegal tobacco.
- September: Another man caught fleeing with 168 packs of cigarettes and 28 pouches.
- Tuesday this week: A man found on the shop roof with two bags of illegal tobacco as the closure notice was served.
Judge Smith warned the proprietor that if the shop reopens after three months, it will be under “a very close eye.”
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