Authorities in Newcastle, England, have issued three-month closure notices to 14 West End shops since beginning a crackdown on illicit tobacco sales in December. The latest bust on Jan. 20 seized 4,350 illegal cigarettes (£74,000) and 370 pouches of rolling tobacco (£16,650). Three tobacco-sniffing dogs—Bran, Cooper, and Griff—have been integral to the operations, finding contraband hidden in chairs, stock boxes, and behind a fake wall, as well as discovering a “tab tube” that was used to move goods to the shop from an upstairs flat.
