Muzy Mini Market, located on Merridale Road in Wolverhampton, could be forced to close following the discovery of thousands of illegal cigarettes and other contraband items during council inspections earlier this year.
City of Wolverhampton Council announced that a licence review meeting is scheduled for 4 August, where the future of the shop’s licence will be deliberated. Inspections carried out by trading standards resulted in the seizure of a significant quantity of prohibited goods, including 1,977 illegal cigarettes, 88 non-compliant vapes, 26 banned novelty lighters and 16 cans of counterfeit Red Bull energy drinks during a March visit.
A subsequent inspection in May uncovered a further 2,500 non-duty paid cigarettes and 16 pouches of rolling tobacco.
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Following the initial inspection, an application was submitted to transfer the shop licence from Mashda Bakhtiar Ali to Soren Bakhtiar Ali. This transfer was approved by the council; however, complications arose when it was discovered that an unnamed member of staff – who claimed to have worked at the shop for only three days – had no legal right to work in the UK.
This staff member also referred to the shop’s former owner, Laura De La Santisimi Trinidad Garcia. Investigations revealed that the licence transfer application had been signed by Ms Garcia six months after she had resigned as a director of Muzy Local Stores. As a result, the council voided the latest licence transfer and reinstated it under Mashda Bakhtiar Ali, who is designated as premises supervisor from April 2021 to April 2026 and premises licence holder from August 2022 to April 2026.
Since March this year, the shop licence has been held by Muzy Mart Store, with Salami Karsan as the sole director and Soren Bakhtiar Ali named as the designated premises supervisor.
West Midlands Police have supported efforts to revoke the shop’s licence due to what they describe as “poor management”. In their formal objection, the police stated, “It is clear from the evidence submitted by trading standards that the premise licence holder and designated premises supervisor have not carried out any due diligence into the management of this premise.”
They added, “Trading standards documented the finding of a considerable amount of non-compliant novelty lighters, illegal cigarettes, pouches of hand rolling tobacco and non-compliant vapes – all age-restricted goods. The premise has also breached several licensing conditions, suggesting poor management and failure to uphold the licensing objectives: the prevention of crime and disorder, public safety, and the protection of children from harm.”