Images have been shared showing the boxes of illegal cigarettes and tobacco discovered inside a garden shed in Hull by trading standards officers. Jaza Ahmad, 41,of Lorne Close in Hull was handed a suspended jail sentence last week after being found guilty of possessing illegal tobacco products.
Trading standards officers from Hull City Council visited his home on 14 November 2024 and gained access to Ahmad’s garden shed with the help of a locksmith. In there, they discovered 155,000 illegal tobacco products, including cigarettes and packets of Turner Original tobacco.
At a sentencing hearing on Friday 28 August, Oliver Shipley, prosecuting, explained that “it was clear that the shed was full of boxes of cigarettes”. “In total 155,060 cigarettes were seized and of that figure that includes 1,285 50g pouches of the Turner Original tobacco. 28,800 were confirmed, following expert analysis, to be counterfeit,” he said. The court heard how Ahmad was not at home at the time of the sting. His wife said he would be home “right away” but Ahmad never returned.
When Ahmad was interviewed by police he stated that he allowed a Romanian male to store boxes in his shed and he was “angry that they were illegal or counterfeit cigarettes”. A trading standards officer told the court in a written statement that they had seen an “exponential” rise in the amount of counterfeit cigarettes in Hull in the last eight years, and products are often stored away from the places in which they are sold to avoid detection.
Photos provided by Hull City Council show brown boxes containing packets of cigarettes and Turner Original tobacco pouches. The products had an estimated total value of £182,466.13.
Ahmad was given a jail sentence of six months, suspended for two years, for possession of illegal cigarettes, and a sentence of one month, suspended for two years, to run concurrently, for unauthorised use of a trademark. He was also handed a curfew order and must remain at his home from 7pm to 7am for four months, and must pay £2,400 in costs.
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