Illegal vapes worth more than £12,000 seized from Middleton warehouse
Date published: 01 August 2023
Some of the illegal vapes that were seized
During a day of action for Operation Vigilant - Rochdale's response to Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) and Child Criminal Exploitation (CCE) - officers acted on intelligence and attended a warehouse in the Middleton area, where approximately 1,000 illegal vapes were seized.
Officers also assisted trading standards with the test purchasing and compliance visits at other shops, to identify if there were any other illegal vapes being sold in the area.
Another 18 were found at a premises in the town centre, which were being sold from under the counter.
A legal vape permits 600 puffs of e-liquids, but illegal vapes can contain 12,000 puffs of e-liquids.
It can also be classed as illegal if they contain high levels of nicotine.
During the day of action, officers from Op Vigilant followed up on work already completed during Operation Colbalt - part of the national initiative, Operation Makesafe - which seeks to educate workers in the hotel industry and be more aware of potential CSE or CCE taking place in their establishments.
GMP officers identified that training around exploitation is not held within most of the hotels and same sex exploitation was not recognised.
Many hotel staff workers felt that if there was something unusual about the circumstances and they had concerns about youngers, they did not have the confidence to speak out.
These are the areas that GMP have identified and will address the educational gaps in the training of hotel staff in the Rochdale borough.
Also as part of the day of action, checks were made on individuals who are on bail and determined that all were complying with their bail conditions, and vehicles were identified where intelligence had suggested drugs and vapes were being sold from.
Sergeant of the Complex Safeguarding team in Rochdale, Jess Bryant, said: "The aim of our Op Vigilant days of action, which happen once a month, is to pursue the intelligence that we receive from members of the community via our force contact centre, when someone dials 101.
"This time we have covered a wide variety of areas and next month it could be something completely different.
"We endeavour to uncover any activity that may lead to the criminal or sexual exploitation of children and stop it in its tracks.
"If anyone has any information regarding something that may be going on in the community or if they believe a child is being criminally or sexually exploited, then we urge them to contact us via 101 or through the Live Chat function on the website, www.gmp.police.uk."
Information can also be passed via the independent charity - Crimestoppers - on 0800 555 111.
Always dial 999 in emergency.
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