Arrests after major crime crackdown
EIGHT men have been arrested after a huge haul of illegal goods was seized in a major crackdown by police, HMRC and council officials.
Among the goods recovered during raids on 11 premises in north Manchester on Thursday were cigarettes, tobacco, counterfeit cash, unlicensed medicines and counterfeit goods.
The multi-agency initiative, called Operation Handcraft, also saw four vehicles seizeds during searches of nine retail, one domestic address and a storage containers. The raids took place in the Strangeways, Cheetham Hill and Bury areas of the city.
HM Revenue and Customs said its officers seized material in relation to suspected tax evasion, including 137,600 cigarettes, 73 kilos of tobacco, counterfeit cash, and four vehicles.
Officers from Immigration Enforcement also arrested six men for immigration offences. Trading Standards removed counterfeit goods worth estimated £2m from 11 premises. The MHRA seized 49,350 individual doses of unlicensed medicines and GMP seized two vans and issued several dispersal notices.
Investigations into the arrests and seizures are continuing.
Two men, aged 30 and 62, were arrested by HMRC on suspicion of tax evasion and have been released on bail pending further enquiries.
The HMRC-led operation included officers from Greater Manchester Police (GMP), Manchester and Salford City Councils Trading Standards teams, Immigration Enforcement, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), and the Intellectual Property Office (IPO).
Mike Parkinson, assistant director, fraud investigation service, at HMRC, said:“ HMRC has significant criminal and civil powers to disrupt criminality and tackle tax evasion on many levels. Sharing intelligence on suspected criminal activity with other agencies and working together is key to our enforcement work. Combined with the powers of our partners we are able to take effective action to ensure nobody is acting above the law.”
Rebekah Sutcliffe, assistant chief constable at Greater Manchester Police added: “This is a great result and a fantastic example of what can be achieved through working closely with our partners in HMRC and Trading Standards. These practices have a far-reaching effect on people’s lives.
“The Strangeways area is one of the largest counterfeit goods suppliers in the UK and the sale of these products has a huge impact on local taxpayers and businesses, as well as potentially funding more serious and violent crime. Today we send a message that we will not allow people to profit from flooding the streets of our communities with counterfeit goods – it will not be tolerated.”
