A Liverpool shop owner was at the centre of a fake cigarette sales operation which saw packs ordered via a baby monitor then shoved down a drainpipe to be sold to customers.
Hasan Anejad, 26, of Oak Terrace, L7, pleaded guilty to selling counterfeit and non-duty paid cigarettes and tobacco from Arbela Food Mart in Wavertree after a council trading standards sting.
A baby monitoring device was being used to order fake cigarettes from the shop floor as part of the scam, with cigarettes then being dropped down a pipe fitted specially in a room in the flat above.
Staff from the council's alcohol and tobacco unit raided the Lawrence Road shop in April with the help of Merseyside Police and found more than 72,000 cigarettes and four kilograms of tobacco in a flat above.
They had carried out test purchases before and found packs of cigarettes being sold at between £3 and £4.
At a hearing yesterday Anejad was fined £450, the council was awarded £3,000 costs and the products were ordered to be destroyed.
A council spokesman said fake cigarettes can be dangerous for smokers and buying them could help fund more serious crime.
He said: “Many counterfeit cigarettes contain much higher levels of toxic ingredients such as tar, nicotine, carbon monoxide, lead, cadminium and arsenic than genuine brand-name cigarettes.
“As well as putting their health at an increased risk, unwitting smokers who buy fake or non-duty paid tobacco could also be funding major gangs and serious organised crime networks.”
