The cost of tobacco has turned corner shops into targets for organised crime, as it is now worth more than silver per gram.
Successive tax hikes on rolling tobacco means that a 50g pouch of Amber Leaf now costs 87p a gram – compared to 83p for silver.
It has encouraged gangs to target not only stores but also delivery vans, adding to the wave of crime hitting the retail sector.
Experts say that criminals regard tobacco theft as a low-risk, high-reward crime because the products are ‘concealable, removable and available’.
As part of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s plan to boost the public finances, the Treasury is considering doubling the tax on tobacco – which the industry argues would further fan the black market.
Successive tax hikes on rolling tobacco means that a 50g pouch of Amber Leaf now costs 87p a gram – compared to 83p for silver
By comparison, silver now costs 83p, which has encouraged gangs to target not only stores but also delivery vans
As part of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s plan to boost the public finances, the Treasury is considering doubling the tax on tobacco – which the industry argues would further fan the black market
The Treasury is estimated to have lost more than £50 billion in tax revenue on tobacco to the black market since 2000.
The Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which is currently before Parliament, would implement Rishi Sunak’s plan to create the first ‘smoke-free generation’ by barring those born after January 2009 from buying tobacco products.
The move has been opposed by many Conservatives who argue it may drive the trade underground.
Former Tory cabinet minister Sir Simon Clarke has said it is a ‘nightmare for shop workers up and down the country to be asked to enforce this’.
Muntazir Dipot, of the Federation of Independent Retailers, said: ‘We are already under financial pressure, and our worry is that the smoking ban will put the onus even more on retailers.
‘At a time when we are already dealing with increases in retail crime and abuse, this is only going to make those problems worse.’
Health lobbyists say the generational ban is necessary as smoking and vaping are most common amongst the younger generation, with nine per cent of 11 to 15-year-olds regularly vaping.
