Shop owner in West Sussex convicted for illegal sale of tobacco and e-cigarettes, caught with 198 illicit e-cigarettes

Key points：

·The owner of a store in Worthing, West Sussex, England, has been convicted for illegally selling tobacco and e-cigarettes. 

·A total of 198 illegal e-cigarettes were found in the store. 

·The store owner, Sarhad Kamal Mahmoudi, will be sentenced next month.

2Firsts, on September 28, 2025, a store owner in Worthing, West Sussex, England, named Sarhad Kamal Mahmoudi, was found guilty of selling illegal tobacco and e-cigarettes. He will be sentenced next month. This case was uncovered by the Trading Standards department of West Sussex County Council, as reported by the Sussex Express on September 26.

A spokesperson for the county council stated that on September 22, 2023, a secret test purchase was conducted at a store in Woxin, during which law enforcement officers purchased foreign cigarettes. Further investigation on October 18, 2023, with the assistance of police, immigration officers, and sniffer dogs, revealed illegal tobacco hidden in the kitchen.

An investigation has found that out of 88 tobacco products, there are varieties with counterfeit, duty-free, or foreign labels. In addition, 198 e-cigarettes that do not comply with the 2015 Tobacco and Related Products Regulations were also discovered. These e-cigarettes were not hidden, but openly displayed for sale in stores.

The police also seized a nitrous oxide tank from Mahmoud's car during their investigation, this substance is commonly known as laughing gas. The West Sussex County Council pointed out that Mahmoud, who has been operating as a shop owner since October 2023, was convicted by the Brighton Magistrates' Court on September 22, 2025 for charges related to illegal sales of tobacco, e-cigarettes, and tax evasion.

According to reports, Sarhad Trading Ltd, owned by the suspect, is facing a total of 23 charges, but the company has since been dissolved. Duncan Crow, a member of the Community Support, Fire, and Rescue Cabinet, commended the efforts of trading standards officers in clearing unsafe tobacco and e-cigarette products from the streets, emphasizing the importance of enforcement actions in ensuring the safety of residents and holding individuals and businesses accountable for illegal activities.