A probe into underground tobacco sales has uncovered evidence of a booming black market trade in Perth which is putting young lives at risk and helping fund criminal enterprises like drugs and human trafficking.
Investigators believe organised gangs are flooding the city with fake cigarettes, as increased tax on high street sales leads to extra demand for contraband product.
The team of test purchasers, led by a former Scotland Yard detective, said they were stunned at how “incredibly easy” it was to buy illegal goods on the streets of Perth city centre.
In less than three hours, they managed to buy armfuls of illicit cigarettes and roll-your-own tobacco.
They found that many of the products on offer from individuals in pubs and shops had been illegally smuggled into the country, while other brands had been made specifically for the illegal trade and are often found to contain anything from dead flies to rat droppings.
In one case, the team were led to a supplier by a schoolboy smoker, who said he had been buying illegal brands from the same woman since he was 12 years old.
The investigation, the first of its kind in Perth, was led by former detective chief inspector Will O’Reilly.
He told The Courier: “I was surprised by just how easy it was to obtain illicit products in Perth.
“We went in with no prior knowledge about the trade in the city. Our purchasers approached smokers in the streets and simply asked them if they knew where they could buy some cheap cigarettes.”
In less than three hours, the team had bought eight packets of cigarettes and three pouches of tobacco. The cheapest pack cost just £3.50 less than half the price of a legitimate sale.
All the roll-your-own tobacco was bought from customers in city centre pubs.
Mr O’Reilly said that one member of his team spotted a 15-year-old boy smoking outside a supermarket.
The youngster agreed to take the purchaser to his supplier, a 40-year-old woman in Fairfield Avenue, who sold two packs of a well-known brand for £4.50.
Several other purchases were made from two separate food shops in North Methven Street, selling premium brands at just £5.50.
“In a geographically small target area, our test purchasing team found tobacco products incredibly easy to obtain. If time had allowed, there is no doubt the test purchasers could have found more.”
He said the teenage smoker was likely to have turned to an unauthorised supplier, because he wasn’t old enough to buy directly from shops. “Illicit supplies like this are the biggest source of cigarettes for underage smokers,” he said.
Mr O’Reilly said that customers had been driven to back street suppliers by the high price of legal cigarettes.
“In my experience, these products would be brought in by organised gangs and the money made from their sales could be used to fund other crimes, like drugs or human trafficking,” he said.
“This isn’t just a case of getting round the taxman.”
The study was commissioned by tobacco firm Philip Morris International and follows a similar investigation in Fife last year, which found the area had also been targeted by criminal gangs.
According to the most recent HMRC figures, the level of illicit tobacco being smuggled into Britain was on the rise, with 10% of all cigarettes consumed in the UK originating from the black market and about 39% for hand rolling tobacco.
It is estimated that the trade of illegal smoking substances had cost taxpayers about £2.1 billion in the last financial year.
The findings of Mr O’Reilly’s investigation will now be passed onto the Perth and Kinross Council trading standards team.