Two Morriston Vape Shops Ordered to Close for Three Months After Seizures

Magistrates have approved three-month closure orders for two vape shops in Morriston, Morriston & Vape and Monsoon Vape, following a coordinated enforcement effort by Swansea Trading Standards and the police.

The action began with test purchases at the two shops, where undercover officers bought illegal vapes and counterfeit tobacco at both premises. The test purchases led to follow-up visits in September, carried out with local police, and searches at five residential properties linked to the businesses.

The searches produced a range of seized material: counterfeit tobacco, illegal vapes, and class B drugs, along with a vehicle that authorities believed had been used to deliver the products. Four people were arrested during the operation, with two remanded in custody and two bailed ahead of later court appearances.

The three-month closures are the outcome the Trading Standards team sought through the magistrates, and they follow a series of closures in the wider Swansea area. The council said its team has run a sustained campaign against the sale of illegal and counterfeit vaping and tobacco products for a number of years, and it cited earlier closures in the city and in the surrounding area in the past year, including a group of shops closed in June, a further set of three shops closed more recently, and a run of closures dating back to the previous year.

A cabinet member responsible for development on the council said the closures are an example of the council's trading standards work at the point of closing down an illegal business, and that the sale of counterfeit goods, and in particular to children, is unacceptable. The two Morriston shops are the latest step in the longer program the council has described.