A new police drive to smash Cheetham Hill's notorious counterfeit trade has uncovered a dilapidated caravan covered in human faeces where an officer believes gangs could have housed a £20-a-day 'spotter'.
The caravan was found behind a gated compound. It was crudely connected to an electricity supply and it was parked under a human waste pipe.
Gob-smacked officers watched in horror as someone flushed the toilet in the adjacent building and waste poured onto the roof of the caravan, which was covered in faeces.
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Clothing was found inside and a senior police officer believes the caravan was used to house one of the 'spotters' employed to look out for cops or trading standards officials.
The counterfeiters are exploiting people with 'questionable immigration status' and paying them £20-a-day to work as spotters around Cheetham Hill's notorious counterfeit street, according to the senior detective tasked with smashing the area's notorious trade in fakes.
Det Supt Neil Blackwood told the M.E.N: "I would suggest they are being exploited. Would I stand out in the cold on a street corner for £20-a-day? No. Is it a decent living wage? No. They are being exploited largely because they are not allowed to work. People recognise that and give them what they believe is fair."
He went on that some of the people they came across 'are not telling us an honest account' as they had taken part in the counterfeit trade.
"But we do know they have questionable immigration status. It's a question for the Home Office but we are coming across people we believe are working here and don't have a right to work here in the UK because of their immigration status," he added.
He revealed the shocking exploitation today (Tuesday) as part of the latest phase of Operation Vulcan, the op launched on November 22 to finally smash the trade in fakes which has blighted Cheetham Hill for decades.
Despite sporadic attempts to tackle the trade over the years, businesses which were closed down often re-opened within a day and the trade, linked by police to serious crime and even terrorism, has continued to flourish.
Now police say less than 20 of the estimated 200-plus counterfeit shops which were operating before Christmas are still open for business.
Insp Kendal Barnett, of the north west immigration enforcement unit and embedded with Op Vulcan, has been on six visits since the operation was launched in November. Some 16 suspects have been arrested for immigration breaches, she said.
Insp Barnett said Cheetham Hill was a 'hugely significant' area and that people were 'being exploited' by people traffickers. Some had arrived in small boats across the Channel and ended up working in Cheetham Hill in the counterfeit trade, she said.
During one raid at a vape shop, students were found to be exceeding the 20-hours-a-week they were allowed to work, she said.
People were coming from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran, said the officer.
When the M.E.N. joined the latest phase of Op Vulcan on Tuesday, officers were continuing to search one counterfeit shop on Harris Street in the Strangeways area. Police first raided the premises on Saturday and they have removed a vast amount of counterfeit goods, including labels such as Chanel and Louis Vuitton.
A handful of customers were found locked inside as, when the police turned up, the shutters were immediately brought down. Two people were arrested in suspicion of false imprisonment and trademark offences before being released pending further enquiries.
It was one of the few counterfeit shops still operating in the area, according to police. A police dog was sent in but no drugs or cash were found.
Like other seizures, many of the fakes found are being shredded by a contractor to make insulation material, pet bedding and horse blankets. Police also want to 'rebrand' hats and other items so they can be dispatched to places like Ukraine, Turkey and Syria
The owner of an adjacent vape shop on Harris Street, who declined to be named, praised the police operation. He said of the fakers: "I've been here eight years and it was really bad. They were very intimidating to my customers and they were fighting their own customers."
Police and immigration officials also visited a nearby mobile phone shop where officers found illegal vapes, which provided 6,000 puffs rather than the legal limit of 600. A man whose phone was 'lighting up' during the visit was led away by police.
Asked what he would say to cynics who have seen previous operations fail to dent Cheetham Hill's trade in fakes, Det Supt Blackwood told the M.E.N: "They never had a chief constable like Stephen Watson. He looked at this area and thought 'no, that's not OK'. They have never had a long term approach that Operation Vulcan has taken which is under the Home Office Strategy 'clear, hold and rebuild'."
Inspired by the military, it aimed to prevent 'harm', protect legitimate business in the area and then allow the council to fulfil an ambition to rebuild the area, said the senior detective.
Asked if he could promise Cheetham Hill's counterfeit trade would never return, he said: "As long as Vulcan is here, this place will not return to what it was."
Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester Kate Green, who has responsibility for policing, joined the operation on Tuesday, and saw for herself the terrible conditions it is believed one 'spotter' had apparently endured in the caravan.
She told the M.E.N: "This area was known as the centre of the European counterfeit trade for many many decades. What we are seeing now is an absolute commitment and determination we are going to bring this to an end.
"This isn't GMP coming in, making lots of noise, shutting down a few shops and clearing off again. This is the beginning of a long term, sustained program to transform this area and take criminal behaviour out."
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