THREE illegal immigrants have been arrested during an operation to tackle the influx of illegal tobacco and labour into the town.

On Thursday, after weeks of gathering local intelligence, officers from the police and Trading Standards launched their second effort under Operation Salida, in Broadgreen.

Bringing together all agencies and sharing information, Salida saw its first operation in November end in success, with offences or breaches of licence identified in 12 businesses of the 15 investigated.

Offences and breaches included tax evasion, selling illegal tobacco, and harmful carcinogens detected in children’s toys on sale.

And on Thursday, officers from Wiltshire Police, Trading Standards, licensing and the Home Office immigration enforcement team hit 18 business premises in the areas of Manchester Road and Broadgreen.

Just four offences were found, which encouraged officers that their efforts were producing results.

Homes and businesses are also being leafleted in the area warning of the dangers of rogue traders as part of a drive by Trading Standards.

PC Luke Atkinson, community beat manager for Broadgreen, has been leading the operations.

“Three months on from the first operation we have visited 18 premises in the area to check for offences or breaches, and have only identified four breaches, which is a significant reduction,” he said.

“We have arrested three illegal immigrants in the course of the operation, which is the same number we found three months ago but from different venues.

“We have also seized around two kilograms of illegal tobacco, the result of good intelligence gathering in recent weeks.”

Two weeks ago detection dogs from South Wales were drafted in for intelligence gathering exercises in the area, which had paid dividends.

“In times of austerity we can’t afford to do everything on our own, and this is an opportunity to bring different agencies together,” said PC Atkinson.

“If you go out as a single agency and identify offences, but do not have the necessary powers, you have to go through a long process of telephone calls to get the right agency involved. When you are on the ground together it is a lot smoother.”

A Swindon Borough Council Trading Standards officer said: “This sort of approach is very beneficial, and it is invaluable to us to gain the sort of information that has been shared.”

Anyone with concerns around matters dealt with by Operation Salida can contact the town centre neighbourhood policing team on non-emergency number 101.