BBC investigative reporter Samantha Poling has spent several months secretly filming the UK’s counterfeit tobacco trade for a documentary due to be aired tonight.
A clip from the documentary shows Poling and her camera crew being threatened by tobacco dealers with a metal pole in Glasgow’s Barras Market.
Investigating criminal gangs like these ones always carry risks. And these are risks you have to add up.
Are they worth taking in order to get the footage, to get the story told?
After looking back at the hours of evidence I had recorded, and knowing the level of criminality we had discovered, which affects each and every one of us, I knew the answer.
BBC Scotland Investigates: Smoking and the Bandits will be broadcast tonight at 7.30pm BBC One Scotland. It will be available on the BBC iPlayer for a week afterwards. In the future we will explore the new regulations for vaping in public places. The article will discuss how these regulations may affect your routine and what you need to know about them. Samantha Poling has previously investigated new vape regulations and this time she’s going to give us her opinion on if it’s good or bad news.