Tens of thousands of cigarettes were seized over a nine-month period after a Cheetham Hill trader was caught selling illegal products on three separate occasions.
Complaints were brought to Manchester City Council’s Trading Standards Team regarding the practices of Ranjha Mart, in Cheetham Hill Road.
Allegations were made that illicit tobacco was being sold there, which was confirmed by officers after a test purchase was carried out in May 2021.
Later that same month officers carried out a visit to the shop where, with the assistance of a tobacco detection dog, tens of thousands of suspected illegal cigarettes were seized alongside other forms of tobacco.
In total, 39,700 cigarettes, 1,250g of rolling tobacco and 1,424 packs of oral tobacco were seized.
After testing it was determined that only 1,420 of the seized cigarettes could be confirmed as genuine.
In July 2021 officers returned to Ranjha Mart to give these legitimate products back when officers observed defendant Ghulam Abbas, 57, of Shirley Road, Manchester, selling tobacco products to a taxi driver from a stall outside the premises.
The stall was subsequently searched and a further 2,040 cigarettes, 250g of rolling tobacco and 245 packs of oral tobacco were seized from the shop.
In November 2021, following another complaint about the suspected sale of illicit tobacco officers again visited Ranjha Mart to carry out a test purchase. The result was the purchase of a packet of cigarettes in non-standard packaging.
In February 2022 a third and final seizure of products from the shop took place with 8,700 cigarettes, 2,150g of rolling tobacco and 1,160 packs of oral tobacco taken away for testing. These items were found throughout the premises, as well as inside a vehicle parked outside.
In total, during the course of the Council’s numerous visits to the shop a total of 50,440 cigarettes were seized, 3,650g of rolling tobacco, and 2,829 packs of oral tobacco.
The limited company and the director of Sardynka Limited (Trading as Ranjha Mart) were invited to attend an interview with the Council. Abbas was also invited as he was identified as the owner of the premises during the Council’s visits.
The director of Ranjha Mart claimed the tobacco was nothing to do with them and blamed Abbas. Abbas claimed he used to sell illicit tobacco however he blamed an individual who could not be identified and who was not in the country at the time.
The case was initially heard at Manchester Magistrates’ Court on July 13, 2023, with Sardynka Limited and Abbas entering guilty pleas to offences under the Trade Marks Act, the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 and the Standardised Packaging of Tobacco Products Regulations 2015.
The case was then sent on to Manchester Crown Court for sentencing and Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) confiscation proceedings.
On Friday, June 6, 2025, Abbas was ordered to pay a POCA confiscation order for £120,000, payable within three months. Failure to pay this will result in a prison sentence of 18 months.
Abbas was also sentenced to 17 weeks in prison for the 17 offences he pleaded guilty to, suspended for 12 months, to run concurrently.
He was also ordered to take part in five days of rehabilitation activity and carry out 250 hours of unpaid work.
He was also ordered to pay £15,000 in court costs and pay a victim surcharge.
A deprivation order was made for all the seized products.
