Chadwell Heath Shop Director Fined Over Illicit Tobacco 2026

Key Points

• La Dunarea Ltd, trading as Magazin Romanesc on Station Road, Chadwell Heath, and its director, Claudi Camelia Cocora, pleaded guilty to possession of illicit tobacco for supply at Snaresbrook Crown Court on 29 June 2026.
• Ms Cocora, a resident of Millhaven Close, Romford, entered guilty pleas in both her personal capacity and as a director of the retail business.
• The prosecution followed a Barking and Dagenham Council Trading Standards investigation initiated by an undercover test purchase on 11 June 2024, where a packet of 20 illicit Kent Core cigarettes was sold for £9.
• A follow-up inspection on 13 June 2024, utilizing specialist tobacco detection dogs, uncovered 28 packets of Dunhill cigarettes and 17 packets of Kent Core cigarettes hidden beneath the shop counter.
• The court ordered a total financial penalty of £4,800, comprising a £2,000 fine, £2,000 in legal costs, and an £800 victim surcharge, with the Judge factoring Ms Cocora’s health condition into the sentencing mitigation.

Chadwell Heath (East London Times) July 9, 2026 – A retail shop director operating in Chadwell Heath has been ordered to pay a total of £4,800 in fines, costs, and surcharges after admitting to the possession and supply of illicit tobacco products. Claudi Camelia Cocora, director of La Dunarea Ltd, which trades as Magazin Romanesc on Station Road, entered guilty pleas in both her personal capacity and on behalf of the company at Snaresbrook Crown Court. The sentencing follows a coordinated operation by Barking and Dagenham Council’s Trading Standards team, which utilised undercover test purchases and specialist detection canine units to uncover the illegal stock concealed within the retail premises.

Why was the director of Magazin Romanesc prosecuted?

The prosecution of Claudi Camelia Cocora and La Dunarea Ltd arose directly from a targeted enforcement operation conducted by local authority officials.

As detailed in the official enforcement case files released by Barking and Dagenham Council, the investigation commenced on 11 June 2024. On this date, an undercover test purchaser acting on behalf of Trading Standards entered Magazin Romanesc, located on Station Road in Chadwell Heath.

During this operation, Ms Cocora personally sold a packet of 20 illicit Kent Core cigarettes to the undercover operative for a cash sum of £9.

Local authority prosecutors noted that this transaction directly breached strict UK tobacco control legislation, which explicitly mandates standardised packaging, fiscal security marks, and specific health warnings designed to regulate the market and discourage smoking.

Following this initial transaction and incorporating auxiliary intelligence gathered by municipal officers, enforcement agencies escalated their investigation. On 13 June 2024, exactly two days after the initial test purchase, Trading Standards officers executed a comprehensive physical inspection of the Station Road retail site.

What did Trading Standards officers discover during the shop raid?

To ensure a thorough search of the premises, Trading Standards officers were accompanied by specialist tobacco detection dogs trained to locate hidden tobacco products by scent.

As documented in the council’s evidence log, the canine units alerted handlers to an area located directly beneath the main shop counter.

A subsequent physical search of the concealed space beneath the counter revealed a cache of non-compliant tobacco products. Officers seized 28 packets of Dunhill cigarettes alongside an additional 17 packets of Kent Core cigarettes.

None of the seized packages complied with the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 or the Standardised Packaging of Tobacco Products Regulations 2015, confirming their status as illicit trade goods within the UK retail market.

What penalties did Snaresbrook Crown Court impose on Claudi Camelia Cocora?

On 29 June 2026, the case was brought before Snaresbrook Crown Court for formal plea and sentencing. Ms Cocora, whose registered residential address was recorded as Millhaven Close, Romford, entered guilty pleas to the criminal charges of possession of illicit tobacco for supply.

The pleas were recorded twice—once in her capacity as an individual and once as the formal director representing the corporate entity, La Dunarea Ltd.

During the sentencing exercise, the presiding Judge evaluated the scale of the operation, the legislative breaches, and personal mitigating circumstances.

The court heard evidence regarding the defendant’s current medical status. In the final sentencing remarks, the Judge explicitly noted that Ms Cocora’s current health condition had been factored into the calculation of the final financial penalties.

The court ordered a three-part financial penalty structure:

• A direct punitive fine of £2,000.
• A contribution toward local authority legal costs totaling £2,000.
• A mandatory statutory victim surcharge of £800.

The combined financial liability imposed by the court across the defendants totaled £4,800, which must be settled under the terms specified by the court administration.

How did local authority leadership respond to the court’s sentencing?

Following the conclusion of the criminal proceedings at Snaresbrook Crown Court, local authority leadership expressed their commitment to continuing similar enforcement strategies across East London.

In an official public declaration issued by Barking and Dagenham Council, Councillor Syed Ghani, the Cabinet Member for Enforcement and Community Safety, detailed the broader municipal policy behind the prosecution. Councillor Ghani stated:

“This prosecution demonstrates our commitment to tackling the illegal tobacco trade and holding those who break the law accountable. We will continue to work proactively to protect residents and support responsible businesses across the borough.”

Background of the particular development

The prosecution of Magazin Romanesc and its director fits into a wider framework of intensified statutory enforcement targeting the illicit tobacco sector across the United Kingdom.

Local authority Trading Standards departments have significantly increased their reliance on multi-agency operations, frequently deploying specialist detection dogs provided by independent security firms to counter sophisticated concealment methods used by non-compliant retailers.

The regulatory framework governing these enforcement actions relies heavily on the Consumer Rights Act 2015, the Trade Marks Act 1994, and specific tobacco safety legislation.

These laws mandate that all tobacco products sold within the UK must feature graphic health warnings, clear tax verification stamps, and plain, standardised olive-green packaging.

Products intended for overseas duty-free markets or manufactured as counterfeit variants lack these safety features, evade customs duties, and are frequently sold at lower price points, which undermines public health strategies and reduces tax revenues.

Prediction

This judicial outcome is expected to directly impact small independent retailers and the wider consumer public across the borough of Barking and Dagenham.

For local independent shop owners, this successful prosecution establishes a clear legal precedent that individual directors face personal criminal liability alongside their corporate entities for compliance failures on their premises.

This is likely to drive an immediate tightening of stock procurement protocols among surrounding retail businesses to avoid similar financial penalties.

For local consumers and residents, the continued deployment of canine search units and undercover operations will likely lead to a reduction in the availability of cheap, unregulated tobacco alternatives in high-street shops.

While this supports regional public health targets by limiting access to low-cost cigarettes, it may also push the remaining illicit market further away from physical retail counters and into less visible online or informal distribution networks.