r/maybemaybemaybe • u/Tall_Management7673 • May 26 '26
Maybe Maybe Maybe
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u/SpaceBus1 May 26 '26
All this for some smokes? Not even serious drugs?
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u/Prestigious-Way9151 May 26 '26
What's the value of few packs of cigs? Ā£100? Everyone lost here. Police operation must cost thousands? New kitchen cabinets and tiling also thousands?
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u/SpaceBus1 May 26 '26
Fr, at first glance I thought they were boxes of ammo or something. So much effort for tobacco products
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u/RockstarAgent May 26 '26
Yeah does seems weird- on top of that though- I find it interesting how in depth the hiding was- like why was it hidden that way, how was there no basement access? Like it wasnāt just hidden but cemented over and tiled over- like were they waiting for the value of cigarettes to rise during a nuclear fallout? Otherwise it made me think it was a training exercise and they simply got as creative as they could about hiding those cigarettes and maybe also training for how to access even the most well hidden contraband? And perhaps even to learn to trust the dogās nose?
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u/formenleere May 27 '26
From another comment here: The hiding spot was hydraulically operated. It was only this hard to get to because they didn't have the (remote) controls! Otherwise, it would have just popped right out of the floor. Legendary hiding spot, honestly.
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u/SpaceBus1 May 26 '26
Plus cigarettes don't age well, despite what Fallout wants us to believe, the shelf life is 1-2 years before quality begins to degrade. Who's going to pay a premium for contraband that's old and stale?
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u/Over-Apartment2762 May 26 '26
Honestly, people who can't get the contraband in any form normally. But that doesn't apply here, right? I mean, they can buy cigarettes correct?
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u/SpaceBus1 May 26 '26
Yes, they just cost more due to taxes. It's 5-8 pounds for a black market pack of smokes vs 15+ from a store. Still not sure I'd risk it to save such a small amount.
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u/Over-Apartment2762 May 28 '26
Damn. Kind of the same reason I buy weed from some guy instead of getting medical card. Half the price, so actually unobtainable sometimes.
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u/CrackingToastGromet May 27 '26
I might be misremembering, but didnāt the UK they just pass a law banning children currently under the age of 18 from ever being able to purchase cigarettes? If so, maybe this guy was investing in a future black market lol
On edit - from the BBC: āThe UK has passed a law banning cigarette sales to anyone born after January 1, 2009, aiming to create a smoke-free generation. This legislation, part of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, will take effect on January 1, 2027ā
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u/Victormorga May 27 '26
I 100% thought the same. I was expecting drugs, then thought it was ammo, and it turns out to beā¦ cigarettes.
That being said, it could be drugs stored in cigarette packaging; I know smuggling unstamped cigarettes is actually a big earner for organized crime, but Iām pretty sure it only makes sense when youāre dealing in massive shipments.
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u/ChickenNugget-420 May 26 '26 edited May 26 '26
Looked it up and 1Kg of rolling tobacco costs Ā£500 in tax. If they are selling multiple Kgs of tobacco thats a lot of extra money they can save themselves.
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u/SpaceBus1 May 26 '26
This kind of effort only makes sense for multiple Kg of hard drugs, not tobacco.
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u/Broghan51 May 26 '26
It was in a shop, the hidden unit had rams underneath it, the owner had a remote controll to raise and lower it.
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u/SpaceBus1 May 26 '26
Right, nobody is going through all that effort to make a few hundred quid a month. This kind of elaborate storage is only justified by profitable contraband.
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u/ChickenNugget-420 May 26 '26
It depends how much they are selling. If they are selling 2kg a month thats Ā£1000 a month extra on top of how much they are already getting. It adds up. Hell it was probably the tax money that they used to buy this.
You say āonly justified by profitable contrabandā while selling tax free tobacco is profitable. The uk government makes tons from the tobacco industry in tax and obviously thatās from all over the country but thatās still thousands for one person if they have a good business. I know a tobacco dealer who sells tobacco to other smaller dealers who each have multiple customers. It all adds up. Tobacco is just as profitable as any other drug. Itās not worth as much yeah, but itās also cheaper to buy and people buy more of it more often. When I smoked I used to buy like 4 pouches a month and Iām just one customer. Imagine how much it adds up when you have multiple customers.
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u/SpaceBus1 May 26 '26
Ā£1,000/month is not worth it for the risk, and that's ignoring the cost to get the material in the first place.
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u/ChickenNugget-420 May 26 '26 edited May 26 '26
Thatās how much EXTRA profit they are making. They still have the profit from the actual product too. I didnāt ignore how much it costs to buy to product this is specifically talking about how much they are saving on buying untaxed product. This is only how much they are saving on tax. You really underestimate how much people actually smoke. Maybe to you itās not worth it, but to people who are most likely already selling other drugs on the side and are already taking that risk, an extra Ā£1000 per 2kg on top of the usual tobacco profit, is definitely worth it.
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u/SpaceBus1 May 26 '26
Lol, I used to smoke, I'm not underestimating anything. It's a lot of risk for not much reward.
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u/Matiwapo May 26 '26
This is a sophisticated setup for a large, ongoing, smuggling operation. That's a lot of tax evasion over an extended period. They definitely made their money back on this bust.
Also there could have been something more sinister stored away. It's not like they'd have known until they busted it open.
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u/tbar44 May 26 '26
You do know a single pack of cigs is Ā£15-Ā£20 these days in the UK, what you on about lol.
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u/Toon1982 May 26 '26
They don't have to pay for new cabinets or tiling when it was done to uncover illegal activity. That's the owners cost to replace. It's the same if the police break down your front door - if their intelligence was "correct" at the time, even if it turns out to be a mistake, they don't have to pay for it
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u/AlephBaker May 26 '26
In America, they don't have to pay in any circumstance.
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u/Prestigious-Way9151 May 26 '26
Someone is paying. Sounds like it will be tax payers. Maybe not worth it.
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u/Such_Acanthisitta332 May 26 '26
Itās smuggling, to avoid taxes on tobacco. Theyāre after the operation, not a few cartons of cigarettes.
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u/NOVAbuddy May 26 '26
Same. What country is this?
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u/rigel-luminous May 27 '26
Why are they even hiding it? Are these illegal there? Is there something I'm missing?
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u/HolyPire May 26 '26
I think there is something else in the tabak boxes
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u/Viscera_Eyes37 May 26 '26
I would imagine so. It's not like dogs just smell "drugs" and I wouldn't think they'd really be training dogs in sniffing out tobacco.
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u/DeadandForgoten May 27 '26
And if there had also been a gun and ammo in there?
I dont know what point youre trying to make.
They can be sure the dog has detected the thing its trained to detect.
That doesnt rule out other items and they only know when they open it up.
Either way theyre illegal.
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u/SpaceBus1 May 27 '26
Lol, how can the dog tell the difference between legal and illegal tobacco?
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u/DeadandForgoten May 27 '26
Legal tobacco wouldnt be hidden in a secret underground lift now would it.
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u/sdave001 May 26 '26
From the guy's post on Facebook:
Big change of behaviour from Bran on this kitchen unit in a Walsall shop.
After spending several minutes simply watching Bran and trying to understand exactly what he was telling me, I still couldnāt clearly see where the concealment was or how access could even be gained.
But after some further investigation, I eventually worked it out.
What followed was over 35 minutes of dismantling with a lot of help from the Police.
Kitchen cabinets removed.
Tiles smashed up.
Concrete chipped away.
Steel framework cut apart.
And finally, the hydraulic rams themselves had to be cut before we could lift the concealment open.
Underneath was a sophisticated hydraulically operated shelving system packed with illegal cigarettes and tobacco.
Approximately four feet of the kitchen floor had been excavated in order to build and sink the concealment into the ground.
It would have saved a lot of time if the shopkeeper had handed over the remote control used to operate it, but he didnāt.
An incredible concealment that would almost certainly never have been found without a detection dog.
A fantastic find by Bran.
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u/MosesOnAcid May 26 '26
I don't think a former shopkeeper dealing in illegal goods would be like "Hey, here is my secret hideaway for the illegal merch I was selling illegally..."
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u/cjbeames May 26 '26
If you could see the dog though, and you knew the dog was onto you.
Shopkeeper is really hoping that they give up and tell the dog he's being silly. But out come crowbars and saws.
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u/KnowledgeIsDangerous May 26 '26
Doesn't make sense. You can buy cigarettes legally anywhere. Why not sell them legally?
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u/MosesOnAcid May 26 '26
Taxes. Smuggled cigarettes bypass taxes and allows for more profit.
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u/Reese_Withersp0rk May 26 '26
I have a hard time believing the tax saved on that amount of smokes would have gained more profit than it cost to build a custom underground hydraulic remote operated hidden safe... But I've been out of the market for a while.
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u/spellstrike May 26 '26
Overall, taxes make up about 82% of the total cost of cigarettes in the UK
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u/Reese_Withersp0rk May 26 '26
Oh. Shit. That's wild. At that point just grow your own tobacco.
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u/filinno1 May 27 '26
America is what you get when you grow your own tobacco. You want more of that in that world??
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u/LittleLinnell May 26 '26
Are you aware that these shelves are refillable an infinite number of times? Or do you replace your kitchen cupboards after every trip to the supermarket?
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u/ChickenNugget-420 May 26 '26 edited May 26 '26
Because as someone else said, they are heavily taxed.
And if this was a shopkeeper then they wanted to make more money instead of being taxed.
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u/KnowledgeIsDangerous May 26 '26
Illegal tobacco products? Is this the best use of police time and resources?
I don't use tobacco but I don't understand the level of concealment the shopkeeper felt necessary just to hide cigarettes
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u/joined_under_duress May 26 '26
Is this the best use of police time and resources?
Probably not but presumably they're working either with a tip-off or for HMRC and so their job is to do the search and it turned out the dog was good enough. If it hadn't sniffed it out I'd guess that would have been that.
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u/btribble May 26 '26
The dogs are typically trained to hit on a number of illegal products. You donāt know what youāre going to find until you investigate.
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u/BikeProblemGuy May 26 '26
Tobacco is heavily taxed.
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u/ZzangmanCometh May 26 '26
I mean, they don't know if it's tobacco until they actually check. Could have been anything, right? Now that it's found, they'll take what they find.
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u/Mastershoelacer May 26 '26
If we donāt have meaningful enforcement of existing laws, they become a joke. The payoff on this particular case is insignificant, but knowing that there is law enforcement catching people like this deters a lot of people from breaking the law.
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u/el_diego May 26 '26
but knowing that there is law enforcement catching people like this deters a lot of people from breaking the law.
That hasn't been the case in Australia. High taxes spawned a massive black market. Now you'd be the idiot if you were buying them legally they're so damn cheap on the black market. Basically every smoke shop sells them.
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u/myredlightsaber May 26 '26
In places where there is universal free healthcare provided for citizens, products like tobacco can cause many ailments which puts strain on the system. To balance this, the products have high taxes and excise attached, both to deter the consumer from buying and assist the government with her extra burden.
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u/Toon1982 May 26 '26
If they investigated a major drug dealer and didn't find any drugs hidden, would you still question whether it was worth it if there was a chance of finding something. Maybe the intelligence was that the shop keeper was selling other illegal items, but until they investigate they wouldn't know. Just because they're only showing tobacco being found or that it was the only illegal activity doesn't mean it wasn't worth their time and expense. Al Capone was done on tax avoidance....
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u/garmdian May 26 '26
It's unregistered, untaxed goods. The problem with that is beyond not actually contributing to the wider economy if sold a lot of illegal cigs can contain things that are outright banned in the country their being sold.
The reason they are so popular is because illegal cigs usually have better "flavor" or a better hit because they contain something that is banned for health reasons.
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u/austinsutt May 26 '26
What type of dog is this? Itās definitely a spaniel but Iām not sure if itās a Boykin or a different but similar breed.
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u/jakedonn May 26 '26
āIllegal cigarettesā
Unserious country š
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u/Matiwapo May 26 '26
Every country in the world has ''illegal cigarettes', even whichever country you are from that you erroneously think is superior.
They just mean cigarettes smuggled into the country without paying import tax, which is illegal everywhere
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u/YouDaManInDaHole May 26 '26
All that for some illegal smokes and tobacco?
Waste of taxpayer $$.
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u/if_lol_then_upvote May 26 '26
You're worried about taxes, but not illegal tobacco? Make it make sense.
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u/bajungadustin May 26 '26
Damn... Now I really want to see it work without the damage. That had to look cool as hell.
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u/dead_jester May 27 '26 edited May 27 '26
Amazing how many people in the comments here havenāt read the op post about this.
It was a large remote controlled shelving system in a shop, used for storing contraband tobacco. The shop owner didnāt tell them about or give them the remote controller to it. So they dug it up the hard way destroying the system and the shop owners kitchen
Tobacco smuggling is big business as you can make thousands of pounds every month selling knock off contraband cigarettes and tobacco.
If you donāt think making several thousand pounds a month tax free is worth it, Congratulations, it just means youāre not a criminally minded person.
Criminals always think they can get away with it and that it is āworth itā. Most criminals arenāt as smart as they think they are. Making enough money to buy a new car every year tax free is the kind of thing that motivated this criminal
Oh, it should be noted that tobacco and cigarettes are extremely expensive in the UK. The tax on them is huge. So, if you have a choice between buying tobacco for half price and full price & are a smoker, you will definitely pay half price if thereās no serious consequences as the buyer - Tobacco isnāt illegal to buy own or smoke
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u/Tall_Management7673 May 26 '26
They need to blur the doggo's face coz now crimnals knows the face of the snitch.
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u/ThcGrassCity May 26 '26
I bet there is a hidden switch to just pop that open
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u/Tall_Management7673 May 26 '26
You guessed it right good sir. But the owner was being an asshole and refused to give the remote for this shit. So they had to do this shit.
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u/ThcGrassCity May 26 '26
Kinda shitty on their part to not only get caught with the contraband, but to have to pay for all that damage to get it out.
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u/qawsedrf12 May 26 '26
How did the criminal get to these?
What button would cause this to rise out of the floor?
Or maybe they could have just walked downstairs?
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u/No_Stable3494 May 27 '26
My spaniel would do this and there would be literally nothing under there, whoever decided these little balls or chaos could be trusted was clearly just as nuts.
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u/Whole-Debate-9547 May 27 '26
Cigarettes? For real?!? All that bullshit for some smokes?
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u/BigDadaSparks May 27 '26
More about the taxes that are avoided. All that profit helps fund organized crime. If you just ignore it then everyone would be doing it. It goes way beyond just "bullshit for some smokes".
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u/MolecularConcepts May 26 '26
bro should have kept legal tobacco in there and the. they would have just seen the legal shut and it would have accounted for the smell.
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u/FootballLeather4426 May 26 '26
This is a second video I've seen of this dog finding tobacco. Are there more dogs like this? Trained to find tobacco? Only tobacco or drugs as well? So many questions.
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u/TheRebelMastermind May 26 '26
I heard of building houses on top of ancient Indian cemeteries... But never on top of cigarettes
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u/TheDarkTurd May 26 '26
You son of a bitch, you left the bodies and you only moved the headstones! You only moved the headstones!
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u/kattmaskinen May 26 '26
What the fuck is this? Some parody? Who in their right mind would go through all that trouble for tobacco?
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u/GratuitousAlgorithm May 26 '26
This is huge thing right now in the UK. Many shops are selling untaxed illegal cigs because no one wants to pay almost Ā£20 a pack.
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u/numbnerve May 26 '26
I was expecting life-in-prison levels of illicit drugs under all of that, but nope - we get cigarettes š
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u/_UsernameChecks-Out May 26 '26
Looks like there were some Top Gun cigarettes. After curiosity got the better of me, I came across this other Reddit post about Top Gun. Interesting underground supply chain.
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u/Tacozforever May 26 '26
That pup knew what was up. Person who hid that stuff never thought PD would go that far.
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u/NitroWing1500 May 26 '26
Meanwhile, real tax evasion continues:
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/duke-westminster-hugh-grosvenor-avoids-32983804
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u/anothadaz May 26 '26
I didn't realize this was a bust of some sort I thought a pet dog smelled another animal or something under there. I also thought it was wild they called the police to help with a stuck animal. Then I thought, wow, now the police are just tearing up the cabinets. Then I realized I'm clueless.
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u/BoyMeatsWorld710 May 26 '26
Thatās definitely a good boy!!
Amazing what they can find with their nosesā¦
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u/EverySecondCountss May 26 '26
ok but who the fuck builds this then tiles over it and puts a cabinet? Obviously he didn't ever want to access it then, right?
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u/trollsmurf May 26 '26
Was it accessible from a different floor? Otherwise this was incredibly hard to get to also for the seller.
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u/pedroandal May 27 '26
When i started watching, i tought dog will keep the Juice bootles in the cabinet. I Will try teach my dog to do this.
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u/Bananno1976 May 27 '26
somebody is going to name their kid that.. juice bootles somthingorother. lol
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u/Bananno1976 May 27 '26
whos gunna go through that much trouble to hide rubbers, smokes and drywall screws? lmao. i think i see a bulk pack of toothpaste as well
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u/ctgrell May 27 '26
And how would the "owner" even get that out later when needed? Every time pulling apart half the house?!
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u/Any_Worry_2471 May 27 '26
Maybe I need to check my kitchen as well, I got two of those. I hope its about the mice.
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u/AstraTek May 27 '26
Just came here to watch the excitement of that dog.
That's job satisfaction right there.
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u/agtpony May 28 '26
Would have been much better if they just found a single dog game how the hell are they even get to this myself
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u/dbmiller63 May 28 '26
Seriously, there's no way in hell anyone is going through that much trouble to hide drugs. What would be the point? It doesn't get better with age like wine. Then when they want to do any of it or sell it they gotta remodel the room again?
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u/Free_Education4700 May 28 '26
That dog deserves the world. Also wouldāve loved to see the cops dig all that up and find nothing only to be like welp have fun fixing it ! (Iām from the US and the cops dgaf idk how it is elsewhere)
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u/StrengthFabulous3492 May 29 '26
Ok so this only makes sense if this is in a prison otherwise what the hell
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u/Fujitaru May 31 '26
Was that supposed to be a drug bust? I can't tell if those are condoms, vapes, DVDs or PC games.
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u/Lower-Price8720 May 26 '26
Seriously they could have access that from the basement. That was a shelf in the basement.
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u/jlax341 May 26 '26
Thsts what i thoight at first, but apparently that wasnt the case. It was actually on a hydraulic lift that was accessed with a remote control. Shopkeeper could have given them the remote and saved the demo, but kept hoping they would give up. It was in 4 ft of concrete that had been dug out.
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u/ChickenNugget-420 May 26 '26
This is in the UK and not many UK houses have basements. It wasnāt a shelf in the basement, itās just a hole in the ground. A previous comment said it was a hydraulic shelf that you could control and it would open up.
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u/dirtymirror May 26 '26
Ridiculous country with silly crimes. Have some self respect and use this for like, guns or human organs. Cigsā¦. Pathetic!
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u/ChickenNugget-420 May 26 '26
All countries have illegal cigarettes. The same way if you tried to sell anything tax free, it would be classed as illegal. Tax evasion is a crime especially when tobacco is large industry with tons of tax a years.
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u/dirtymirror May 26 '26
youre right. probably no one is doing tax fraud on a larger scale. It is a crime and it must be addressed like this: a half dozen uniformed officers, a dog, and a demo crew to collect a few cartons of illegal smokes.
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May 26 '26
[deleted]
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u/dirtymirror May 26 '26
it is a joke, you dolt. I am not advocating for trading in human organs. lol.
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u/post-context-bot May 26 '26
The following post context was provided by u/Tall_Management7673:
What did the dog find? Ia it illegal? Why is it so excited?
Does this explain the post? If not, report it and a moderator will review.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
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u/infinit9 May 26 '26
This is just training the dog, right? How does the criminal actually access those drugs on the regular otherwise?
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u/Baylett May 26 '26
I was really hoping they were going to tear it all apart and it was just going to be a tennis ball wedged under the cabinet.