Kirklees crackdown sees hundreds of illegal vapes seized
September 13, 2025
Vapes seized in Kirklees (Photo: West Yorkshire Police)
Hundreds of illegal vapes and cigarettes have been removed from sale in rural Kirklees following a joint enforcement operation targeting organised crime.
On Monday 8 September, officers from the Kirklees Rural Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT) and West Yorkshire Trading Standards raided six stores across the Holme Valley and Dearne Valley, seizing 50 boxes of cigarettes and around 550 illegal vapes.
The operation forms part of a wider crackdown across the district. In late July, officers in Huddersfield and trading standards partners seized illicit tobacco and vapes with an estimated street value of more than £67,000. That haul included over 2,000 packs of cigarettes, 168 packets of hand rolling tobacco, 2,030 oversize vapes and 604 unlicensed disposables.
Authorities warn that illicit vape products often exceed legal nicotine limits and pose health and safety risks to consumers. They also contribute to environmental waste when unregulated disposable devices enter circulation.
Inspector Vanessa Briggs of the Kirklees Rural NPT said the community had a key role to play in tackling the trade: “Seizing these items safeguards the public from products which are typically unregulated and untested and can contain dangerous levels of nicotine and other harmful substances. It also reduces environmental pollution by enforcing the discontinuance of disposable vapes.
“It is also proven that money raised from illegal vape and tobacco sales can be used to fund organised crime, which is another reason it is important we prevent these products from being circulated on our streets.”
The inspector urged residents to continue reporting illegal sales through West Yorkshire Police on 101, via live chat on the force website, or anonymously through Crimestoppers.
