The Bucharest Shop in Portsmouth shut down by police after fake cigarettes and vapes found
.jpg?width=96&crop=1:1,smart)
Police have closed a vape shop in Portsmouth after fake cigarettes were found on the premises.
The Bucharest Shop in London Road, North End, was shut down on Tuesday (March 10) as a part of a crackdown on illicit tobacco sales. Trading Standards officers were joined by police during inspections in January, where tobacco products were seized from vehicles linked to The Bucharest Shop.
They were also connected to Kingston Mini Market and New King Mart, with illegal vapes and Labubu Dolls being seized. Further police operations were carried out a month later.
Officers from the Buckland and Nelson Neighbourhood Police Team originally seized counterfeit cigarettes and vapes. They returned to issue a closure notice under the Anti Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, and the premises will be shut for up to three months if a closure order is granted.
“Further counterfeit cigarettes and vapes were also seized,” Portsmouth Police said in a statement on Facebook. “Police and Trading Standards will continue to enforce the closure and conduct ongoing compliance checks.”
The signage has been removed from the store, with the closure notice placed on the front of the premises. Anyone associated with the business has been asked to appear at Portsmouth Magistrates Court on March 12.
This is not the first North End store to be issued with a closure order recently. Pompey Food & Wine was shut after illegal vapes, tobacco, and shisha, was found on the premises. Portsmouth Magistrates Court heard that owner Kaiwan Osman Hama Khorsheed showed a "wilful refusal to stop illegal trading". Counterfeit tobacco, illegal tobacco, illegal and disposable vapes, were being sold at the ship - even to children as young as 12.