Five arrested in £3m Strangeways trading standards swoop

Tuesday, 19 December 2017 07:00

Five people were arrested during a trading standards operation in the Strangeways area of Manchester, which led to the confiscation of fake goods with an estimated street value in excess of £3m.

11 shops selling counterfeit goods in the vicinity of Bury New Road were targeted in the raids - which led to the seizure of enough fake items to fill three 40ft shipping containers.

In a failed attempt to prevent enforcement agencies from entering their stores, fleeing traders closed their electric shutter doors, which led to customers being trapped inside two shops. Six members of the public had to be released by GM Fire and Rescue personnel using cutting equipment to get through the metal shutters.

More than 2,000 bags and boxes of counterfeit goods were seized, with copied brands including Adidas, Chanel, Ugg, Michael Kors, GHD, Beats/Apple, Nike and Superdry, among many others.

Two large knives were also seized by GMP during the search, along with a significant sum of cash.

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