MORE than 100 calls have been made about illegal cigarettes and tobacco products in Notts during a trading standards campaign.
Officers have also carried out 35 raids after what they said was a "phenomenal" response from the public.
Since the crackdown was launched in June, trading standards have found fake and smuggled cigarettes in 'fag houses' where they are sold.
They have also been discovered hidden in shops, including the back of a grocery van.
The news comes as research suggests law-abiding convenience shops in Nottingham are losing about £44,000 in sales a year to the illegal market.
Trading standards officers working for Community Protection, the police and city council partnership, are organising the campaign.
Chief Inspector Andy Rooke said: "When you think that is only about tobacco, that is a phenomenal number of calls.
"We've done well over 40 inspections of shops and carried out 35 search warrants at commercial and private properties.
"There are stereotyped 'fag houses' were people will be selling it; we've had the man in a van selling fruit and veg but also selling tobacco; we've had the man in the pub who goes in with a poacher's-type coat rammed full of tobacco."
He said the market was driven by the rising prices of tobacco and cigarettes due to high tax.
Legal pouches of tobacco sell for £16 to £17 but cost around £5 on the black market. Illegal packs of cigarettes cost £3 to £4 – legal ones £7 to £8.
Trading standards have targeted counterfeit cigarettes made to look like established brands, and illicit cigarettes or "illicit whites".
These do not mimic established brands, but are made abroad by small-scale manufacturers who do not legitimately supply the UK market.
Imperial Tobacco, which has its UK manufacturing base in Lenton, has finished a study on how much the illegal market is costing small retailers.
Based on surveys of empty cigarette packet collections, and figures from shopkeeper associations, it says each small general store or newsagents is losing about £43,889 a year in sales.
Imperial Tobacco's head of UK corporate and legal affairs, Colin Wragg, said: "This detailed analysis of the illicit trade in the East Midlands makes pretty grim reading.
"The effect illegal tobacco is having on our communities is clearly demonstrated by the fact legitimate retailers in the East Midlands are each losing £44,000 turnover every year to the criminals and this figure is consistent across the UK."
The Post reported on Thursday how thousands of counterfeit cigarettes were discovered in a wheelie bin at a butcher's shop in Nottingham.
Trading Standards officers found 15,000 fake cigarettes at Hoggs Family Butchers, Woodside Road, Lenton Abbey, in a November raid.
Business owner John Hogg, 58, pleaded guilty to offences under the Trade Marks Act 1994 and the Consumer Protection Act 1987 at Nottingham Crown Court. He was fined more than £11,000.
Chief Inspector Rooke said: "We are not just doing it to stop criminals, you have to remember that the counterfeit tobacco industry is not subject to the same quality controls, and so uses illegal ingredients, and is not helping people stop smoking."
Anyone with information about the illegal tobacco trade is asked to contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.
