Rochdale Neighbourhood Team, Operation Vulcan and partners shut down huge counterfeiting operation

Operation Vulcan is primarily focused on targeting the criminality present in the Cheetham Hill and Strangeways area of Greater Manchester, but on 26 June 2023 the team travelled to Rochdale to assist with yet another anti-counterfeiting operation.

The work of Operation Vulcan is not confined to one area of Greater Manchester and the team are working in wider partnership with the rest of the force to pursue criminals and stamp out counterfeiting operations wherever they emerge.  

On 26 June, officers from Greater Manchester Police (GMP) Rochdale Neighbourhood Team came across the large online counterfeit distribution premises on Woodbine Street in Rochdale. Inside they discovered an office, preparation area and two large storerooms with shelving stretching from floor to ceiling filled with a variety of counterfeit goods including tobacco, vapes, jewellery, watches, clothing, footwear, and accessories.

To help dismantle the premises and seize the items, Rochdale Division requested support from Operation Vulcan - GMP's experts at combating counterfeit crime.

Operation Vulcan were delighted to lend their tactics and knowledge to the operation and brought with them close partners Rochdale Trading Standards and brand representatives to confirm the items were indeed counterfeit.

Lighthouse Security – who have been instrumental to Operation Vulcan – then also turned out to seize and transport the items to a secure location where they could then be recycled and repurposed, ensuring nothing goes to waste.

Rochdale District Intelligence Unit, Partnership Enforcement Team and Rochdale Challenger Team also supported the large-scale operation.

In total a staggering £14 million worth of counterfeit items were seized and stripped from the building in just over 24 hours.

Superintendent Richard Warden of GMP Rochdale Division said: "This was a brilliant partnership operation during which huge numbers of counterfeit products were seized. The counterfeit trade is big business for criminals and brings with it much more serious criminality, as has been seen on Bury New Road prior to the launch of Operation Vulcan. I hope our work with Operation Vulcan to shut down this online premises sends a clear message to the criminals that GMP will obstruct any attempts to establish this trade elsewhere. Counterfeit is not a victimless crime - it blights communities with more serious crime and violence - and by shutting down this operation, we are cutting off the proceeds of criminals protecting the wider community."

Andy Torkington of Operation Vulcan said: “It was a great day’s work by the Rochdale district and a significant hit to the pocket of organised criminality. Operation Vulcan were hard at work clearing 208 shipping containers of counterfeit goods in Cheetham Hill when the request for support came in from Rochdale, however, the team were more than happy to assist this Operation by lending the strategy and best practice from Operation Vulcan."

Phil Lewis, Director General at the Anti-Counterfeiting Group said: "This is another example of the powerful impact the Operation Vulcan team and partners are having on the counterfeit trade in the North-West. The partnership between the Police, Trading Standards, Lighthouse Security, and brand representatives has produced a highly efficient and effective enforcement response. They are targeting this transnational threat from retail level up to large-scale wholesale and distribution. We must continue to work together to tackle this criminality, which endangers the health and safety of consumers, destroys jobs and funds serious and organised crime which blights communities.”