Some of the world's most exclusive and iconic fashion labels have been seen on many shop rails in a notorious corner of Manchester. But the Strangeways shops that previously flourished along 'counterfeit street' were never selling the real thing.
Last autumn, Greater Manchester Police launched an assault on the counterfeit trade at Bury New Road and Great Ducie Street known as Operation Vulcan, with dozens of shops closed down since. Now, the force uncovered a warehouse in Cheetham Hill where fake designer badges were being added to unbranded items.
As if by fate, the Vulcan team rumbled the illegal operation on World Anti-Counterfeiting Day, which took place yesterday (June 8). Acting on intelligence from HMRC, officers raided the large badging factory and discovered more than two million pounds' worth of counterfeit items.
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Those items are believed to have been destined for the shops of 'counterfeit street' and beyond. Police also found rows of machinery responsible for affixing counterfeit designer logos, badges, and tags onto unbranded items.
Images show fake badges claiming to be from 'Stone Island', 'Chanel', 'Adidas', 'Hugo Boss' and 'The North Face' ready to be sewn into the plain clothes. Boxes of items were seized from the scene by officers.
Sergeant Dan Cullum, one of Operation Vulcan’s specialist officers, said: “The profits from these illegitimate businesses are huge, in excess of hundreds of thousands of pounds a week, all of which funds serious organised crime. In turn, this has devastating effects on our local communities and legitimate businesses.
“I hope this action goes to show that Operation Vulcan is here to stay. We may have closed down the majority of the shops in the area, but we are actively closing in on the large-scale warehouses who are responsible for mass producing these counterfeit items.”
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