The colossal scale of a factory set up to add brand logos to fake clothing was revealed today. As reported in the Manchester Evening News, premises on Peel Lane, off Cheetham Hill Road, were raided by police who uncovered machinery to add labels to counterfeit goods being sold in illegitimate shops in nearby Strangeways.
But police now say several linked units at the site were being used for the mass-production of fake designer goods in "exploitative conditions". In an operation led by City of London Police’s Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU), nineteen people were detained and around 150 tonnes of counterfeit designer clothing, accessories and footwear were seized.
In a statement the PIPCU said: "The value of these items is still being ascertained, but is thought to be in the millions."
