Croydon shops fined for selling illegal vapes

Croydon shops fined for selling illegal vapes
Credit: Google Street View

Croydon (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Croydon Council prosecutes two shop owners for selling illegal vapes, marking a successful trading standards crackdown on banned products in the borough.

Selling vapes without the required health warning, selling vapes manufactured outside of the UK without a UK contact address, and selling vapes with more than 2 milliliters of nicotine juice were the crimes in the two different cases.

Following a tip and a test transaction where an unlawful vape was sold, Mobile and Vape on Brigstock Road in Thornton Heath was searched in April of last year.

Following the seizure of 597 vapes, Mr. Azmi, the owner of Mobile and Vape, was ordered to pay £600 in fines, £240 in victim surcharges, and £500 towards the Croydon Council’s expenses.

During a routine inspection in July of last year, 859 illegal vapes were seized from the Phone and Vape Gallery on London Road in Norbury.

The director of the Phone and Vape Gallery, Mr. Singh, was ordered to pay £450 in fines, £180 in victim surcharges, and £500 to cover the costs of the Council. He expressed regret for the offenses and was certain that his currently available products were now in compliance.

Both guys were commended by the judge for their guilty pleas.

Jason Perry, Executive Mayor of Croydon said:

“Yet another successful prosecution by our award-winning trading standards team.

We have zero tolerance for these crimes and the team’s routine visits and intelligence-led raids are protecting residents from the potential harm these products can cause.”

What measures does Croydon Council use to identify illegal vape sellers?

The council’s trading standards team conducts test purchases using volunteer teenagers to check if shops sell vaping products to underage buyers. These operations help identify retailers illegally selling restricted products.

Trading standards officers undertake raids and inspections on shops suspected of selling illegal vapes or tobacco. These raids may include searching premises thoroughly, sometimes with search dogs, looking for hidden compartments and confiscating illicit products.

The council encourages residents to report shops suspected of selling illegal vaping products. Resident complaints can trigger formal investigations and enforcement actions.

Daniele Naddei

Daniele Naddei is a journalist at Parliament News covering European affairs, was born in Naples on April 8, 1991. He also serves as the Director of the CentroSud24 newspaper. During the period from 2010 to 2013, Naddei completed an internship at the esteemed local radio station Radio Club 91. Subsequently, he became the author of a weekly magazine published by the Italian Volleyball Federation of Campania (FIPAV Campania), which led to his registration in the professional order of Journalists of Campania in early 2014, listed under publicists. From 2013 to 2018, he worked as a freelance photojournalist and cameraman for external services for Rai and various local entities, including TeleCapri, CapriEvent, and TLA. Additionally, between 2014 and 2017, Naddei collaborated full-time with various newspapers in Campania, both in print and online. During this period, he also resumed his role as Editor-in-Chief at Radio Club 91.
Naddei is actively involved as a press officer for several companies and is responsible for editing cultural and social events in the city through his association with the Medea Fattoria Sociale. This experience continued until 2021. Throughout these years, he hosted or collaborated on football sports programs for various local broadcasters, including TLA, TvLuna, TeleCapri, Radio Stonata, Radio Amore, and Radio Antenna Uno.
From 2016 to 2018, Naddei was employed as an editor at newspapers of national interest within the Il24.it circuit, including Internazionale24, Salute24, and OggiScuola. Since 2019, Naddei has been one of the creators of the Rabona television program "Calcio è Passione," which has been broadcast on TeleCapri Sport since 2023.