Islington Trading Standards tracks down illicit tobacco trader In this feature | rogue trader | illicit tobacco | street crime Word on the street Counterfeit tobacco being sold from a bin bag, a home factory stashing the goods, a rogue trader who goes to ground classic scenarios on which a trading standards officer thrives. Doug Love gives us the lowdown T I turned round, just in time to see something green a pouch of Golden Virginia tobacco, I was sure being handed to the elderly man his case is one of those involving boots on the ground and some traditional detective work. It served to remind me of the benefits of sharing information, perseverance and partnership working. In April 2015, when I was working at Islington Trading Standards, Ireceived a call from a colleague at Camden. Dave Hunt told me he wasin a local caf with a barrister, after a court case at the magistrates court in Islington, and saw a woman come in, offering cheap tobacco for sale. I headed to the caf to find out if they had CCTV they did not, unfortunately and then dropped into the councils CCTV centre to see if I could retrieve an image of the suspect on the street. Footage from the nearest street camera showed someone who matched the description Id been given, but it was from such a distance that I could not make use of it. Disappointed, I could do no more than to use the incident to add to my knowledge of illicit tobacco sales in Islington. Until, that is, one Saturday, more than a year later. Selling counterfeit tobacco In August 2016, I was on other duties in the Nags Head area of the borough. This location was, at one time, notorious for overt street sales of illicit tobacco, until trading standards, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the police concentrated our joint efforts on dealing with it. Sincethat time it has not been conducted in public view. On that day, however, I turned a corner to see a woman of Asian appearance talking to an elderly couple. On closer inspection I realised Id seen a similar coat and shopping trolley on the CCTV footage that Id looked at the year before. Quickly covering my council lanyard, I walked past until I could manufacture a reason for turning around, just in time to see something green a pouch of Golden Virginia tobacco, I was sure being handed to the elderly man. I followed the woman as she went into a local bookmakers and waited outside, thinking she was probably selling to the punters inside although it turned out she was playing on one of the machines. I then followed her onto a bus heading for Seven Sisters and to a house a few minutes walk away. She seemed to live there, as she let herself in. In the following days, I secured CCTV footage from the bookmakers and showed a still to Hunt, who said he believed it was the same person hed seen in the caf. I then spoke with another colleague, Mike Squire, in Haringey where the suspect appeared to live and prepared an warrant of entry application. Mike liaised with a local police team hed worked with previously, Ispoke with an HMRC team Id worked with regularly, and a date was agreed and a warrant obtained. The crucial elements of this case are ever more necessary if we are to remain effective as the resources devoted to trading standards dwindle From street crime to home factory She was surrounded by counterfeit Belgian packaging and Benelux tax stamps, and loose tobacco in a black bin liner On the day we visited the house, we found the woman Id seen in one of the bedrooms the house seemed to serve as a hostel for Chinese nationals. She was surrounded by counterfeit Belgian packaging and Benelux tax stamps, loose tobacco in a black bin liner, a scale, and a heat-sealing gun: it was clearly a small-scale factory. She also had a passport and Home Office documents in her possession, which named her as Yu Lin Zhu. She was found in possession of 13kg of tobacco. Around 17,000 Chinese cigarettes were also found on the premises, which may or may not have belonged to her. She was arrested, gave a no-comment interview, and was released on police bail. Zhu did not answer bail or appear in court to answer the charges brought against her. In February 2016, on her second non-appearance, an arrest warrant was applied for and granted, and all involved assumed we might never see her again. Then, in August this year, she resurfaced in Barking and Dagenham, where she was arrested for street-trading offences. The police checked and found the outstanding arrest warrant, and she was kept in custody. Within hours she was brought to Highbury Magistrates Court to answer the charges. My former colleagues in Islingtons legal team (I have since moved to the bi-borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and Kensington and Chelsea) made time in their busy schedule to dust off the file and attend court, where Zhu pleaded guilty and was sentenced to six months imprisonment. I would canvass younger members of trading standards to take every opportunity to build alliances From phone call to prison sentence The crucial elements of this case investigators with a sharp eye, perseverance, working in partnership and making appropriate checkson suspects are ever more necessary if we are to remain effective as the resources devoted to trading standards dwindle. I would canvass all younger members and others in our profession to take everyopportunity to: network and build alliances with people working in similar areas; work with other agencies; and make full use not only of the intelligence-sharing processes that are now available, but also of the intelligence that you gather yourselves. I doubt this investigation would have happened had Hunt not made that first telephone call to me. Credits Doug Love is senior trading standards officer at the bi-Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. 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