As the crime correspondent with the Scarborough Evening News I followed the police on a number of crime fighting operations.

But the resulting front page splash from this multi agency operation had a slightly misleading headline.

My editor was always keen to include the Polish community which, while that was very commendable, was sadly misplaced on this occasion.

At the time we had someone who was originally from Poland working for us and the editor was always keen to use headlines translated into the Polish language, together with an English translation because, in this case, the targeted shop was Polish.

The resulting sub heading read: ‘To jest oblawa, mowi policja, konfiskujac papierosy’ and the translation read: ‘This is a raid, say police, as cigarettes taken away’.

However, when the officers raided the shop they said nothing of the kind and they just did their job. And I am sure the people in the shop had bigger things on their mind rather than acknowledging the fact the local paper had published a Polish headline eh?

On top of that I was supposed to be videoing events and there was a technical problem with the sound and we had to re-record suitable sound effects for it.

MORE than 10,000 packets of counterfeit cigarettes and 22kg of tobacco were seized during raids in Scarborough.

The raids were carried out by police and trading standards and Revenue and Customs officials in the Ramshill Road area.

Almost 30,000 cigarettes and 21kg of loose tobacco were seized in the first raid on the Eastern Gate Polish grocers’ shop and at an upstairs flat in Ramshill Road when officers used a battering ram.

The cigarettes included well-known brands such as Marlboro but counterfeit.

It took almost two hours to collect and document the seized items.

Officers searched other properties in the area and a second haul, involving around 100,000 cigarettes and a small amount of tobacco, were found in a nearby lock-up garage.

A few hours later, they raided a house in Filey Road where they seized another 80,000 cigarettes, making 210,000 in total.

Insp Leo Suret, the tasking and co-ordinating inspector for the eastern area, said: “This is a very positive result.

“It has been down to good intelligence and the Safer Neighbourhoods Team which had responded to complaints from the public.”

John Kinghorn, Revenue and Customs head of detection for the north of England, said: “This large seizure shows that we are working closely with the police and trading standards to pursue those engaged in illegal activities.

“Anyone who thinks they are getting a bargain buying cheap cigarettes or tobacco might not realise that this illegal trade damages honest businesses in the area, costs billions in lost revenue and lines the pockets of criminals instead of funding public services.

“Many smokers think they are getting a good deal but these cigarettes are usually cheap because they are not the genuine article.

“Counterfeit cigarettes are even worse for your health than normal cigarettes and it is not easy to tell the difference between a genuine cigarette and a counterfeit cigarette, until it is too late.”

He added anyone tempted to buy cheap smuggled cigarettes should remember that they could be funding organized crime. Anyone with information on smuggled goods is advised to contact a confidential hotline on 0800 595000.

Yesterday’s warrant was part of Operation Maximum Impact – a month-long crime-fighting initiative to reduce crime by 18 per cent.

From the Scarborough Evening News on Friday, February 8, 2008.