MORE than £2million worth of counterfeit clothing has been seized from six addresses in Manchester in a police crackdown on organised crime in the city.
A number of possible victims of ‘modern slavery’ were also found during the raids, which took place in the Cheetham Hill area of the city.
Greater Manchester Police officers worked with teams from Trading Standards and the HMRC in the dawn raids, under Operation Challenger.
A GMP spokesperson confirmed “intelligence” led them to search six addresses in the area - including businesses, private houses and storage units.
Following the searches, the agencies held a total of six people for immigration offences, failure to appear at court, disqualified driving and on suspicion of assault.
Five vehicles were also seized for having invalid or no insurance.
Potential victims of modern slavery were uncovered at the addresses during the searches.
They were later identified and “signposted to the appropriate services to receive protection and support to rehabilitate them”, the GMP spokesperson added.
Councillor Nigel Murphy, Manchester City Council executive member for neighbourhoods, said: “This has been an incredibly successful week of action and millions of pounds worth of counterfeit goods have been taken out of circulation.”
He added: “The supply and distribution of fake goods has links to the wider criminal world, by cracking down on counterfeiters we both protect the public from potentially dangerous products and hit criminals where it hurts.”
Chief Inspector Denise Pye from Greater Manchester Police said: “A week of action like this reinforces our commitment to cracking down on organised crime here in Greater Manchester.
“Members of organised crime groups are often involved in the production and selling of counterfeit goods to fund further criminal activity. By disrupting their plans at this stage, we are potentially preventing these criminals from committing more serious crimes in future.”
She added: “Our priority is to protect members of the community who are honest and law-abiding, allowing them to go about their lives without their safety feeling compromised.
“I would like to take this opportunity to appeal to members of the public who have knowledge of criminal activity like this happening, to report it to the Police on 999 in an emergency, 101 in a non-emergency, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.”
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