Secret compartments discovered housing thousands of fake tobacco and vapes in purge on black market goods

Video footage shows the moment police found thousands of fake cigarettes hidden in a secret compartment behind a bathroom towel rail.

Officers also discovered illegal tobacco and vapes stashed inside a book case and in secret rooms behind fake walls and ceilings. Footage released by Lincolnshire Police revealed the creative hiding places used by criminals to stash their illicit goods.

In one clip, officers found a storage box which could be raised through the floor at the press of a button. Inside the box were hundreds of boxes of counterfeit cigarettes being sold on the black market. In another raid, cops found a book case which contained a secret shelf which could be lowered from the ceiling.

Other criminals had built a secret room behind a fake radiator which hid a deep drawer full of illegal tobacco products. Storerooms of illicit fags and vapes were also discovered behind a towel rail in a bathroom. Footage shows the tiled wall opening to reveal a chest full of boxes of cigarettes.

The discoveries were made by police targeting the sale of black markets tobacco from shops and businesses in East Lincolnshire.

A police spokesperson said: “These shops are often a front for other serious criminality such as money laundering, illegal working, human trafficking, and drug supply. Many of the shop workers are victims, trafficked into crime by profiteers.

“These illegal activities harm legitimate businesses and fund further crimes, often monopolising high street spaces, driving out lawful small businesses. Our communities bear the brunt, facing anti-social behaviour, underage sales, and drug offences. Criminals go to great lengths to hide their illicit goods.

“Many of these shops are run by highly coordinated organised criminal gangs - underscoring the gravity and sophistication of the criminal activities we're confronting in the battle against illicit tobacco sales.”