Magistrates have ordered a Grays tobacconist to close for three months and pay over £4,500 costs after they were prosecuted for selling counterfeit and illegal tobacco and vapes for the second time in less than six months. Thurrock Council’s trading standards team, accompanied by Lily, a tobacco detecting sniffer dog, visited the Mellow Yellow Vape Shack, in Grays, in February.
The dog found large quantities of counterfeit cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco hidden in the shop, along with illegal vapes that came in packaging targeting children or that were over 10 times the legal tank size.
On Tuesday, March 18, 2025, Basildon Magistrates Court ordered the shop to remain closed for three months and for Amir Ahmadi, to pay £4,665.67 in costs.

Magistrates have ordered a Grays tobacconist to close for three months and pay over £4,500 costs after they were prosecuted for selling counterfeit and illegal tobacco and vapes for the second time in less than six months. Thurrock Council’s trading standards team, accompanied by Lily, a tobacco detecting sniffer dog, visited the Mellow Yellow Vape Shack, in Grays, in February.
The dog found large quantities of counterfeit cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco hidden in the shop, along with illegal vapes that came in packaging targeting children or that were over 10 times the legal tank size.
On Tuesday, March 18, 2025, Basildon Magistrates Court ordered the shop to remain closed for three months and for Amir Ahmadi, to pay £4,665.67 in costs.