Shops in Chippenham and Trowbridge have been closed after selling illegal tobacco.
The investigation by Wiltshire Council's Trading Standards team uncovered the illegal sales happening inside.
Chippenham Mini Market on Market Place first opened in October 2024 and sells vapes, e-liquids and smoking paraphernalia.
The shop has now been slapped with a three-month closure order after undercover officers visited the store on October 25, 2024, and were sold illegal tobacco.
The trading standards officers visited again on November 6 to advise the owner about the consequences of selling illegal tobacco and vapes.
Two days later, officers visited the premises with a tobacco detection dog, and found counterfeit tobacco and illegal vapes.
Similar products were also discovered in the adjacent Turkish barbers, which belongs to the same owner, and later that same day, an undercover officer was again able to purchase illegal tobacco.
Vape Shop, formally known as My Sweet Shop on Wicker Hill in Trowbridge has also been ordered to close.
In May 2024, the previous owner of the business was given a 12-month suspended prison sentence following the seizure of more than £100,000 of illegal tobacco and cigarettes.
The shop then closed, before reopening under new ownership.
Even after the reopening, undercover officers found they were able to buy illegal tobacco from the shop in January 2025.
In March 2025, officers visited the premises accompanied by a tobacco detection dog and a sophisticated concealment was found by the dog in a storage area above the sink containing 257 packets of cigarettes and 16 pouches of hand rolling tobacco.
Appearing at Swindon Magistrates' Court on Thursday, April 10, both shops have now been ordered to close.
“I'd like to thank Wiltshire Police for their assistance in this case and also our colleagues in the Public Health team who helped with the funding for the tobacco detection dogs that we use in the raids.
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“Illegal tobacco harms local communities and affects honest businesses operating within the law and this sort of activity will not be tolerated in Wiltshire.”
Now that the closure order has been handed out, any unauthorised person entering either of these two shops is committing a criminal offence and could be sentenced to 51 weeks imprisonment.
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