Kurdish illegals involved with selling coaband.

I watched it.

What struck me was the laugh in your face disregard shown for the law.

We’re all sick of these sort of shops blighting our streets, it’s epidemic proportions now.🤬

Oreo

We’re all sick of these sort of shops blighting our streets, it’s epidemic proportions now.🤬

Yes, everywhere.

Not just inner city areas, country towns, throughout the country.

Albanian OCG are running cannabis farms in the UK too.

Oreo

We’re all sick of these sort of shops blighting our streets, it’s epidemic proportions now.🤬

Maybe speak to the police and trading standards. They can and do close these places down.

Oh dear.

BlueBelle

Yes Rosie the shop near me is used mainly by white English as I ve replied to Oreo I live in a mainly white area and the shop I m talking about isn’t run by Kurds either

Well firstly I'd point out that not all English are white, nor are all white people English. I have mixed race English grandchildren. British people are majority white especially in areas like Scotland. In my area of London it is about 50/50 white and ethnic minorities so your blanket statement that it's whites only that buy the contraband would be highly unlikely to be true. It doesn't help to use anecdotal evidence to blame one section of society whether they be sellers or buyers.

I think BlueBelle has said that 'the shop near her'
Don't think she is discussing other areas.
Don't think she said that all English are white.

Maremia

I think BlueBelle has said that 'the shop near her'
Don't think she is discussing other areas.
Don't think she said that all English are white.

In her post of 11.21 BlueBelle says Someone up thread ask who buys the contraband well homegrown WHITE English of course but that’s ok isn’t it ?

It was only later she qualified that the shop in her mainly white area had mainly white English customers. So it was a blanket statement up until that point.

Yes, but you do acknowledge that BlueBelle 'qualified' her post?

Have I not just said that? Are you being deliberately obtuse?
Would she have qualified it if I hadn't questioned her assertion as she didn't seem to feel the need to qualify it in her original post. Can we leave this now, I have no wish to drag Bluebelle any further into this?

Rosie51

BlueBelle

Yes Rosie the shop near me is used mainly by white English as I ve replied to Oreo I live in a mainly white area and the shop I m talking about isn’t run by Kurds either

Well firstly I'd point out that not all English are white, nor are all white people English. I have mixed race English grandchildren. British people are majority white especially in areas like Scotland. In my area of London it is about 50/50 white and ethnic minorities so your blanket statement that it's whites only that buy the contraband would be highly unlikely to be true. It doesn't help to use anecdotal evidence to blame one section of society whether they be sellers or buyers.

Anyway, it matters not who buys the contraband as they may not know it is contraband.

The issue is who is selling the contraband goods and who is running the whole operation.

Maremia

Yes, but you do acknowledge that BlueBelle 'qualified' her post?

It's irrelevant.

They are not the criminals.

Onlymedea

Oreo

We’re all sick of these sort of shops blighting our streets, it’s epidemic proportions now.🤬

Maybe speak to the police and trading standards. They can and do close these places down.

You know what? If you, me and everyone on here constantly badgered their MP there’s a faint chance that something would be done.
Very faint mind you if the MP is like mine, I have emailed twice to him about it and received platitudes back.
It would need emails by us all every week at the least.
The Police aren’t interested unless you show them evidence of a crime actually being committed.
Trading standards do carry out checks here and there but the sheer number of these kind of shops is overwhelming them.
If the political will was there to really crack down on them it could be done but would need to be relentless and with some real consequences for the owners.

I visited a local market this week, last time I went was over 30 years ago (markets are not my thing, unless a farmer’s market)

I was amazed at all the knock off designer clothes, perfumes, Uggs, handbags etc.

How do they get away with this?

Where are Trading Standards?

Neither deliberately obtuse, nor deliberately rude.

GrannyGravy13

I visited a local market this week, last time I went was over 30 years ago (markets are not my thing, unless a farmer’s market)

I was amazed at all the knock off designer clothes, perfumes, Uggs, handbags etc.

How do they get away with this?

Where are Trading Standards?

Did you not feel tempted to grab a Louis Vuitton for twenty quid?

How very dare you Stripey? This is Gransnet you know. Always polite and well behaved.

GrannyGravy13

I visited a local market this week, last time I went was over 30 years ago (markets are not my thing, unless a farmer’s market)

I was amazed at all the knock off designer clothes, perfumes, Uggs, handbags etc.

How do they get away with this?

Where are Trading Standards?

Underfunded, under staffed and overwhelmed, I would guess.

I remember a video shop years ago near my work that had dodgy rentals - in that they were sold for domestic use only (not as rental).
That one was raided (and suspect cigarettes were found as well as the videos).
I had spoken to the local police about it and they were already monitoring it. I'm not sure they should have told me actually.

On a small scale people used to bring cartons of cigarettes back from abroad a lot and that's basically the same.

And how many "upstanding" people pay tradesmen cash knowing it would be more "with an invoice".

just to be clear, not equating a carton of cigarettes to people smuggling or excusing the dodgy shopkeepers etc

Casdon

GrannyGravy13

I visited a local market this week, last time I went was over 30 years ago (markets are not my thing, unless a farmer’s market)

I was amazed at all the knock off designer clothes, perfumes, Uggs, handbags etc.

How do they get away with this?

Where are Trading Standards?

Underfunded, under staffed and overwhelmed, I would guess.

How extensive are their powers?

On a small scale people used to bring cartons of cigarettes back from abroad a lot and that's basically the same.

And how many "upstanding" people pay tradesmen cash knowing it would be more "with an invoice".

No, it bears no comparison with the OCG which are operating in this country now and across Europe too.

People smuggling, exploiting migrants, racketeering, drug smuggling, illegal cigarettes and vapes (containing goodness knows what), extortion etc etc.

dodgy shopkeepers ?

Dodgy shopkeepers?

I'm just astonished that this could be described as dodgy shopkeepers

StripeyGran no I am fortunate enough not to have to resort to dupes

I totally get why people go down the dupe road especially when it comes to tweens wanting what their friends have in order to fit in.

GrannyGravy13

I visited a local market this week, last time I went was over 30 years ago (markets are not my thing, unless a farmer’s market)

I was amazed at all the knock off designer clothes, perfumes, Uggs, handbags etc.

How do they get away with this?

Where are Trading Standards?

Markets aren't what they used to be, GrannyGravy ☹

StripeyGran's comment is rather facetious, because it is a real problem, worldwide, as shown by Simon Reeves on his programmes about all the counterfeit goods in landfill around the world.

Although there are some markets that sell local produce and other goods with provenance.