A SWANSEA shopkeeper has been sentenced to prison for selling counterfeit cigarettes from his store. Yarech Kader, who operated the Asia Market on St Helen’s Road, was found to be making approximately £300 a day from fake cigarette brands including Lambert & Butler, Marlboro, and Benson & Hedges.
Kader, who repeatedly failed to appear at Swansea Crown Court for his sentencing, was eventually apprehended in the East Midlands after being the subject of an arrest warrant. The judge described his non-attendance as a “deliberate attempt to delay or evade justice.”
On August 24, 2021, undercover officers from Swansea Council’s trading standards department visited the Asia Market, requesting “cheap tobacco.” Kader offered them Amber Leaf and Golden Virginia at £6 per pouch. After selecting Amber Leaf, the officers observed Kader retrieving the tobacco from a hidden location behind a bottom shelf.
The following month, council enforcement officers conducted an inspection of the store, discovering a quantity of cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco concealed in a rear shelving unit. It was found that the majority of the tobacco was counterfeit or not intended for the UK market, lacking proper plain packaging and health warnings. The counterfeit brands included Richmond, Lambert & Butler, Marlboro, Benson & Hedges, Superking, Winston, Rothmans, and Amber Leaf. The staff member present declined to comment and refused to provide his name. Officers subsequently locked the premises and retained the keys.
On September 20, 2022, Sarkar Bakr Ali, the registered food business operator for the shop, went to collect the keys from the Guildhall with Kader. Ali claimed he was no longer the owner of Asia Market, confirming that Kader was now in charge.
Further evidence emerged when an “intelligence officer” from WR Investigations Ltd made a test purchase on March 30, 2022, buying a pack of 20 Richmond cigarettes for £5. These cigarettes were confirmed as counterfeit.
During an interview with council officers on July 14, Kader declined the offer of an interpreter and admitted to owning Asia Market from April 1, 2021, to May 25, 2022. He acknowledged knowing that counterfeit and illicit tobacco was being sold and stated that he had been selling it for approximately six weeks, earning about £300 daily.
Yarech Mahmud Kader, 46, of Maynell Street, New Normanton, Derby, had previously pleaded guilty to one offence under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 and 12 offences under the Trade Marks Act 1994. He chose not to attend the sentencing hearing or be represented by legal counsel.
The court was informed of Kader’s extensive history with unlawful tobacco. In May 2015, he was fined £19,000 at Gloucestershire Magistrates’ Court for 21 offences related to unlawful tobacco. In January 2016, he was fined £110 in Sheffield Magistrates’ Court for possessing counterfeit tobacco, and in January 2018, he received a 12-week suspended prison sentence from Nottinghamshire Magistrates’ Court for eight offences involving counterfeit tobacco.
The Asia Market case, originally scheduled for sentencing on January 9, 2023, was adjourned multiple times due to Kader’s absence or lack of legal representation. Two arrest warrants were issued, with the second resulting in Kader’s apprehension and subsequent guilty plea to a Bail Act offence at Derby Crown Court.
Judge Huw Rees, noting Kader’s repeated attempts to delay proceedings, sentenced him to two years in prison, with an additional three months for the bail offence, to be served consecutively. Kader will serve half of his sentence in custody before being released on licence to complete the remainder in the community.
