Police smash huge £65m-a-year crime network after being led to single Manchester trader

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

A huge criminal counterfeit goods operation 'worth up to £65m a year' has been smashed. Investigations by Rochdale council trading standards led to the discovery of a trader at the heart of a huge distribution network of counterfeit goods across the UK.

Items seized ranged from illegal cigarettes and tobacco to high-value counterfeit items, such as jewellery, perfumes and cosmetic fillers.

Rochdale council leader Neil Emmott praised the officers for their ‘tremendous efforts’. “They have worked above and beyond their normal daily duties to physically seize counterfeit items worth millions of pounds and disrupted a counterfeit network worth more than £65m per year,” he said.

Coun Emmott says that people may not realise that - as well as often being dangerous and always inferior - counterfeit goods are funding organised crime. READ MORE: Rochdale council to forge ahead with station square revamp despite blow “These traders do not pay taxes, maybe illegally claiming benefits and put genuine local traders who abide by the rules out of business,” he added. “You may think you have bagged a bargain, but by funding organised crime you have assisted crime gangs who are responsible for forced labour, drugs, human trafficking, prostitution and child labour.” Officers carried out inspections across Rochdale borough in January, seizing illegal tobacco, cigarettes and vapes from a number of shops.