Shop raided repeatedly but reopens next day, councillor tells police panel
A shop raided around six times by police, trading standards and immigration officers kept reopening the next day, a Flintshire councillor has told the North Wales Police and Crime Panel.
Councillor Chris Bithell, who represents Mold East, described repeated raids on one shop in his town selling illegal vapes and illicit tobacco.
He said that each time the shop was raided and its keys seized, it reopened the following day and carried on.
Cllr Bithell told the panel the shops were “very often operated by asylum seekers who shouldn’t be working at all,” and said the trade had been described to him as organised crime.
Neither Chief Constable Amanda Blakeman nor commissioner Andy Dunbobbin repeated that characterisation in their responses.
Cllr Bithell raised the issue as the panel discussed the police and crime commissioner’s report on 15 June.
He linked it to new Home Office measures that he said would let authorities close such shops for 12 months.
Chief Constable Amanda Blakeman confirmed the closure period had been extended to 12 months before a shop can reopen, and said it would help deter people from treating the trade as an opportunity.
She said North Wales Police works closely with trading standards and immigration services on the shops, pointing to the force’s Clear, Hold, Build work in towns including Rhyl and Bangor.
CC Blakeman asked anyone with concerns about a shop in their area to report it to the police, saying it helps build the evidence needed for warrants and action.
Commissioner Andy Dunbobbin said the issue had been raised directly by young people at a meeting he attended at Alun School with the youth council and town council.
He said the high street was the heart of many North Wales communities, and described a new government task force on the trade as welcome.
Mr Dunbobbin linked the shops to wider concerns about young people accessing illegal substances, including a rise in ketamine use.
The panel noted the report.
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