Nearly £500K of fake goods seized in raids

Tameside Council Enforcement officers working with Greater Manchester Police have found goods worth approximately £460,000 in an operation carried out on September 19.

Officers working with GMP Police and Wagtails sniffer dogs as part of wider Project Avro visited three premises after receiving intelligence regarding suspicious activity.

Seized goods included counterfeit clothing, sportswear, trainers, fragrances, illicit vapes, cigarettes and hand rolling tobacco.

The UK market of fake goods is now worth an estimated £9.3 billion, and represents 4 per cent of all UK imports. This costs the UK economy around £1.3 billion in unpaid tax, which could be used for essential public services. 

Instead the money falls into criminal hands and is used to finance organised crime including human trafficking, drugs, weapons and child labour. 

Additionally, in many cases fake goods are often proven to be potentially dangerous to consumers.

HM Revenues and Customs estimates that the illicit market in tobacco duty and related VAT was worth £2.8 billion in 2021 to 2022. The proceeds of this crime fund the smuggling of weapons, drugs, and even humans across the globe.

Illegal vapes are not compliant with UK regulations and could have higher nicotine concentration levels, contain banned ingredients or have oversized tanks for nicotine liquid. They often do not have the right warnings or information on their packaging.

Tameside Council Assistant Executive Member for Enforcement Cllr Hugh Roderick said: “This is a great result thanks to collaborative efforts of our trading standards team working with our partners. 

“Appropriate action will be taken against the offenders involved. 

“The trade in counterfeit and illicit goods supports crime rings, hurts hard-working legitimate businesses and puts consumers at risk.”