Lincoln Road business has licence removed after selling illegal cigarettes

An off-licence had it’s premises license removed in Peterborough, after it was found to have sold illegal cigarettes.

A raid carried out on the premises in April discovered three boxes of 4,540 mixed branded cigarettes concealed in three boxes at Lara (International Drinks) – located at 415 Lincoln Road.

Members of the Licensing Committee were asked to review the license at their meeting on 11 August following a search by Customs and Excise on 28 April 2022.

Speaking to the members, Gareth Brighton, licensing and business manager, said: “All the cigarettes were liable to forfeiture as they had been improperly imported due to the non-payment of UK duty, and none of the tobacco products found had the appropriate fiscal markings for the UK market.”

The premises licence holder is Mr Hevar Zrari, who had held the licence since December 2017 and the designated premises supervisor at the premises on the day in question was Mr Dildar Salih.

Lara (International Drinks) had operated as an off licence, and had been licensed to sell alcohol Monday through to Sunday from 10am to 11pm.

Speaking in support of retaining his licence, Mr Zrari said: “I was away on holiday camping at the time of the visit and had left two days before leaving his father in charge of the shop with (an unnamed) individual in his absence.

Mr Zrari claimed: “It was this individual who was responsible for the illegal cigarettes.”

Mr Zrari told the members that he only keeps CCTV footage for a few days, and that while he is fully aware of his responsibilities and has not been in trouble before, he had not brought any evidence with him to show that he was away on holiday at that time.

It was also explained to the committee that no CCTV footage for April had been retained, and nothing evidenced to support Mr Dildar Salih (the former DPS) who has subsequently left his employment.

The committee heard that the packets of cigarettes did not have the legally required warnings in English, and such illicit tobacco products deprive HMRC of lawful revenue, confer an unfair advantage on retailers who stock them due to the lower cost, and fall outside of the health and safety consumer framework.

The committee did not attach much credibility to Mr Zrari’s version of events and, after deliberations resolved, unanimously decided to revoke the premises license.