![\"Infographic](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Info_1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\t\t<\/p>\n
In 2025 Manchester City Council\u2019s Trading Standards Team seized and destroyed nearly \u00a34.5m of counterfeit goods.
\n
\n<\/p>\n
Ranging from fake handbags, trainers, jewellery, electronic items, sportswear, to children\u2019s toys and sunglasses\u00a0there are few areas that the counterfeit goods industry does not reach.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
However, through exemplary partnership work alongside Greater Manchester\u00a0Police, and\u00a0brand representatives this criminal industry has taken a\u00a0substantial\u00a0hit\u00a0over\u00a0the past 12 months.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Of the more than 43,500 counterfeit items which were seized\u00a0it is estimated that the value lost to the industry was between \u00a334m – \u00a343m.*\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
In addition to counterfeit goods a substantial push was made throughout the year to crack down on the sale and distribution of\u00a0illicit\u00a0tobacco. Sold in packaging not compliant with UK law and often shipped in from oversees, it presents a\u00a0substantial\u00a0impediment\u00a0to supporting Mancunians to quit smoking and move away from tobacco products.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
As Manchester has some of the worst health outcomes in the country when it\u00a0comes\u00a0to smoking-related illnesses it is hugely important that steps are taken to curtail the sale of illicit tobacco.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
In total, 316,625 cigarettes \u2013 equivalent to\u00a0nearly 16,000\u00a0individual\u00a0packs were seized.\u00a0In addition, 258kg of hand rolling tobacco was seized, as well as more than 18,000 illegal vapes which do not\u00a0comply with\u00a0UK laws or regulations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Councillor Lee-Ann\u00a0Igbon, Executive Member for Vibrant Neighbourhoods, said:\u00a0\u201cI am incredibly proud of the results that our officers achieved throughout 2025. The counterfeit industry was\u00a0substantially\u00a0embedded\u00a0in our communities, but through their\u00a0diligence\u00a0and the support of our valued partners we have\u00a0driven away some of the worst offenders and are beginning the process of regenerating the areas of Manchester that were long blighted by this sort of crime.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThrough Operations Elswick and\u00a0Machinize\u00a0run in collaboration with GMP we have made a significant impact against criminal\u00a0enterprises\u00a0and we hope this sends a message that we will not tolerate this harmful trade.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Detective Chief Inspector Melanie Johnson, lead coordinator over Operation\u00a0Machinize\u00a0for GMP, said:\u00a0\u201cLast year we collaborated with Manchester City Council\u2019s Trading Standards to tackle businesses on our high streets that were being used as a front for criminality and putting our communities at risk.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a result of our operations, we managed to seize over \u00a31 million worth of illegal items.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThe\u00a0joint partnership\u00a0operation has enabled GMP to gather further information and intelligence enhancing our understanding of criminality within these types of businesses.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWe take any information we receive very seriously and will continue to investigate all aspects of this criminality to protect our communities from the harms of illegal products.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
*Note on Lost Value\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
This is the estimated loss of money when comparing the price of a sold counterfeit item, vs the authentic product. Ie., if a pair of counterfeit\u00a0Nike shoes were sold for \u00a320, when the RRP was \u00a390, the lost value would be \u00a370.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In 2025 Manchester City Council\u2019s Trading Standards Team seized and destroyed nearly \u00a34.5m of counterfeit goods. …\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":227178,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[35364,114,4558,631,107335,109691,109698,243,109693,444,109692,5210,85,46,29727,3654,12406,109690,25211,11080,109694,43,109697,109695,109696,13334,2956,2963,2012,3418,8254,443],"class_list":["post-227177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-archive","tag-business","tag-citizen","tag-community","tag-council","tag-councillor","tag-county-councillors","tag-education","tag-emergency-planning","tag-england","tag-enviroment","tag-fire","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-leisure","tag-libraries","tag-library","tag-local-authority","tag-local-government","tag-manchester","tag-motorways","tag-news","tag-parish-councils","tag-public-record","tag-record-office","tag-road-safety","tag-services","tag-social-services","tag-tourism","tag-tourist","tag-transport","tag-uk"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227177"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227177\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/227178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}