“Got some good weed, bro.”
I’ve been on Bury New Road for less than five minutes when I’m approached by someone offering me drugs. I’m minding my own business, sauntering along in the early afternoon sun, when a lad in a black tracksuit accosts me out of nowhere.
I stop and tell him I’m after pregabalin - a prescription drug notoriously rife on the streets around Strangeways. Normally used to treat nerve damage, epilepsy and anxiety, it is also used among Manchester city centre's rough sleepers and drug addicts and has been linked to a growing number of deaths in recent years.
“No problem,” the lad says. “Ten pound per strip.”
He asks how much I’m looking to pay.
“Forty,” I answer.
He wants to know if I have any cash on me. I explain that I don’t but say I’m meeting a friend who can lend me some.
I tell him I'll be back, then walk further up the road. I loiter for a while on the corner of Moulton Street but it's not long before I hear a piercing whistle and notice the same man walking towards me.
He asks if I’m still interested in the pregabalin, and also offers me cannabis and cocaine. I say I'm not, make my excuses and beat a hasty retreat to my car.
In recent months, a huge police crackdown has seen dozens of warehouses and shops shut, more than one hundred arrests made, and millions of pounds of fake goods seized from Manchester's 'Counterfeit Street'.
GMP launched Operation Vulcan last year in an attempt to dismantle the infamous trade in fake clothing and goods along this stretch of Bury New Road and Great Ducie Street. The force has deemed the blitz a success, with officers claiming that the number of counterfeit shops trading in the area has dropped from 200 to less than ten.
In total, an estimated £40m worth of fake goods have been seized from warehouses, industrial units, and buildings that been converted into warrens of multiple shops. Although a handful have tried to reopen, many shops have remained shut after being raided by police.
But when the Manchester Evening News visited the area this week, it still appeared to be business as usual for some.
As I walked past a row of tired-looking shops opposite Strangeways prison, a group of young men emerged from underneath a metal shutter - just yards from posters highlighting the ongoing police operation.
As the group walked off in the direction of the city centre, each clutching a black carrier bag full of goods., the shutters slammed to the ground before I could catch a glimpse of what was inside.
On the next street corner, 'spotters' lingered on the look-out for police officers. The trade in fake merchandise and illicit prescription drugs may not be as widespread or brazen as it once was in the city centre's shabby gateway, but it still exists - for now.
GMP says its targeted operation has also contributed to a decrease in violent crime in the area, which 'was regularly blighted by serious violence' including reports of running battles taking place in broad daylight with thugs wielding weapons out on the streets.
The force have said 33 organised crime gangs from across the country have links to the area. But since last autumn, more than 100 people have been arrested on suspicion of a variety of different offences, including 38 for drugs offences.
While they may have had success in getting rid of many counterfeit shops, officers acknowledge there is still work to be done to stamp out crime in the area.
Detective Chief Inspector Jen Kelly, one of the lead officers on Operation Vulcan, said a plan was in place to tackle the drug dealing that has long plagued the area. For several years, Strangeways has been at the centre of the supply of illicit prescription drugs in Manchester.
"We know there is a lot of work to do," said DCI Kelly. "We know the drug dealing is still taking place and we have a plan for that."
Speaking to the M.E.N. following a series of raids on shops in Great Ducie Street earlier this week, DCI Kelly said officers intended to stay in the area "for the long term".
"We're not naïve," she added. "We know that if we stopped, they would just refill them [the shops].
"It's embedded criminality that has been going on for years and years. We've been going for five months now, which is just a drop in the ocean compared to the long-term plan.
"The ultimate goal for me is for this area to be safe. I want the schoolkids up the road to be able come to school and feel safe. I want legitimate business to thrive here."
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