A man has been arrested attempting to flee the country after buying trainers with suspected counterfeit notes in Manchester.
An investigation by Greater Manchester Police's Economic Crime Unit was launched into counterfeit currency being used at stores across the city.
On June 19, at a shopping centre in Manchester, a man purchased £250 of items and then tried to buy a £250 pair of trainers with money suspected to be counterfeit.
Try MEN Premium for FREE by clicking here for no ads, fun puzzles and brilliant new features.
Security staff were able to use CCTV to follow his movements through the shopping centre and back to his vehicle and saw his registration plate as he got into his car.
On July 2, at around 5pm, the same vehicle was spotted on camera as it entered the Mersey Tunnel in Merseyside. The man had paid in cash for using the tunnel. The vehicle then made a journey around the Wirral before entering the shipping port of Birkenhead.
At this time, the borders and port police had been made aware of the vehicle. It was stopped before entering the ferry where the man and vehicle would have been on the way to Belfast, Northern Ireland.
The car was searched and officers recovered two large batches of cash, along with designer clothes and high value items which were seized with the vehicle for forensic recovery for checks to see if they were used in any other criminal activity.
A 21-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of possessing counterfeit currency. He remains in police custody for questioning.
Some of the high value items were believed to have been purchased from multiple retail outlets around the North West and paid for in cash, with receipts kept concealed in a blue drinks pack seized. The receipts all show large transactions made in cash.
Detective Inspector James Coles, of GMP’s Economic Crime Unit, said: "This is great proactive work from our officers who have managed to remove suspected counterfeit cash from our streets. I’d like to thank the security staff at the shopping centre for their quick response in obtaining the registration plate of the man’s vehicle, this allowed us to track its movements which ultimately led to their arrest.
“Using, distributing and creating fake bank notes is illegal and by seizing this cash, officers have been able to prevent it from being used to potentially fund further criminality within the community."
Try MEN Premium for FREE by clicking here for no ads, fun puzzles and brilliant new features.
