Authorities in Trafford, a borough in Greater Manchester, England, uncovered an illegal stash of cigarettes and vapes with the help of a dog named Dora, the BBC reported.
Trafford Council officers conducted a raid on the 7 Day Stop, a convenience store in Sale.
On Monday, the council published a news release about the raid and Dora's role in unearthing the hidden stash of contraband tobacco products.
Dora, a "sniffer dog" from Wagtail UK, detected a "secret safe" in the ceiling of the shop's back room.
Store staff refused to unlock what Trafford Council described as an "adapted safe," but investigating officers "crowbarred" it open. They recovered hand-rolling tobacco, 1,226 cigarettes, and 38 disposable vapes.
Single-use or disposable vapes have been banned throughout the United Kingdom since June. According to the tobacco harm advocacy group Action on Smoking and Health, the British government banned disposable vapes to curb youth usage and to protect the planet.
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Disposable vapes are a growing environmental problem in the U.K. and elsewhere — by design, users consume, discard, and replace single-use devices at routine intervals, creating waste.
Litter caused by disposable vapes is an escalating issue, but devices thrown in trash cans are, too. They tend to contain a single-use lithium-ion battery, and individual devices have sparked fires in waste processing facilities and exploded inside compacting garbage trucks.
Officials in Trafford took decisive action following the raid. Manchester Magistrates Court "granted a full closure order" in light of the investigation, shuttering the shop for three months.
Rose Thompson, Trafford Council executive member for community safety, commented on the outcome of the raid and the borough's commitment to crack down on counterfeit products and illegal disposable vapes.
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$200 or more 💰 "This enforcement action shows that we will not hesitate to take steps to protect our communities from people who sell illegal products that can damage health and undermine the livelihoods of reputable traders who follow the rules," Thompson began.
"It sends a strong message that any premises ignoring warnings will face prosecution. Trafford operates a zero-tolerance approach to the sale of illicit tobacco and cigarettes and to the wider criminality that this activity funds."
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