Over 250 shops in Liverpool will be targeted in a major crackdown against the sale of illegal cigarettes.
Back by Tobacco company Phillip Morris Limited (PML) the campaign will highlight the dangers of illicit cigarettes to retailers.
The project has been launched after an investigation by the company suggested as many as one in every four cigarettes smoked in Liverpool was illegal.
Thousands of examples of illegal cigarettes and tobacco has been seized by Liverpool council’s Alcohol and Tobacco Unit in the past 12 months.
Most of the cigarettes found to be “illegal” in Liverpool has not had duty paid on the goods.
Authorities are complaining that the smuggled packs of goods that go un-noticed are funding
Most of it is illegal because duty has not been paid on the goods, generic with the authorities complaining the smuggled packs fund serious criminal gangs operating across Europe.