Peterborough shop’s licence called in for review after police find 680,000 illegal cigarettes and large amount of Viagra tablets
Officers carried out a search warrant at International Food Centre on Lincoln Road in November where they found 683,400 cigarettes, 37.45kg of hand rolling tobacco, and 35 cigars – all of which were found to be illegal
Cambridgeshire Constabulary has applied for the review of a Peterborough shop’s premises licence after large amounts of illegal products were seized.
Officers carried out a search warrant at International Food Centre on Lincoln Road in November where they found 683,400 cigarettes, 37.45kg of hand rolling tobacco, and 35 cigars – all of which were found to be illegal.
They also found £14,886.20 in cash, as well as large sums of foreign currency, and a substantial amount of sildenafil tablets, commonly known as Viagra, which is a prescription-only drug.
A man in his 30s was arrested on suspicion of tax evasion and money laundering and released on bail until February.
The following week, a man in his 40s was arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply sildenafil and has also been released on bail until February.
A full closure order was served on the shop and flat above on Tuesday, December 31 following a successful application at Huntingdon Magistrates’ Court.
On Friday, January 24, Peterborough City Council’s licensing sub-committee will consider and determine an application served by the police for a review of the shop’s premises licence.
The shop’s licence was transferred to several different holders in recent years, until April 2022 when the premises licence and the designated premises supervisor were transferred to the current licence holder Marius Maculevics.
PC James Rice of Cambridgeshire Constabulary said: “We applied to the courts for the business and adjoining flat to be closed due to persistent issues in the store around things such as the sale of age restricted products and other illicit items and non-duty paid products.
“Circumstances such as these are often a front for organised criminality and anti-social behaviour which has detrimental effects in our communities.
“We hope this latest action shows the community that we are committed to tackling organised crime and will continue to police this robustly through regular compliance checks and enforcement of the order.”