Officers from Lockerbie Trunk Road Patrol partnered with colleagues from Motherwell to carry out vehicle checks on the A74(M) at Gretna and Johnstonebridge service areas and the Vehicle Standards Agency checkpoint at Beattock summit. The team were assisted by tobacco detection dog, Dixie.
Over the course of the checks, 113 vehicles were inspected and offences relating to road traffic, counterfeit goods, HMRC cigarette duty and environmental offences relating to the transportation of chilled goods were detected. Sergeant Bob McNay explained that issues with the sale of counterfeit goods are at their peak in the run up to Christmas, and that officers were only too happy to assist Trading Standards by carrying out these checks.
There are plans to carry out similar checks in future.
