Trading Standards reports surge in illegal tobacco sales in Scotland
Trading Standards says illegal tobacco sales have risen sharply in Scotland, with repeated raids uncovering counterfeit cigarettes in some shops.
Trading Standards says the sale of illegal tobacco has grown sharply in Scotland, as officers continue to find counterfeit cigarettes during repeated inspections of some retailers. The warning comes amid a wider effort to tackle the trade.
According to Trading Standards, some shops have been searched more than once and officers have kept finding fake cigarettes. The agency described the scale of the problem as an explosion in illegal tobacco sales.
The BBC reported the comments in a video item published on 3 September 2026. The report did not give a full breakdown of the number of raids or seizures.
Illegal tobacco can include counterfeit cigarettes and other products sold outside the legal market, and enforcement is typically carried out by local trading standards teams working with other agencies.
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