UK police trumpet Operation Vulcan success

One year after Operation Vulcan got underway to tackle crime on Manchester’s notorious ‘counterfeit street’, police have released the results of the crackdown.

In 12 months, Greater Manchester Police and enforcement partners have seized 1,040 tonnes of counterfeit goods worth an estimated £143.5m ($177m), closed down around 200 shops selling them, and seized over half a million pounds of illicit cash as well as large numbers of prescription drugs and suspected counterfeit vapes.

The loss to industry and UK economy could be up to 10 times higher, had the seized items been sold at full market price.

As a result, the area around Manchester’s Cheetham Hill and Strangeways has seen a dramatic reduction in criminal activity, as the organised networks that were behind the illicit trade were dismantled.

“Operation Vulcan followed a strategy of ‘clear, hold, build’ endorsed by the Home Office, which aimed to clear away the endemic criminal activity that had blighted the area for decades,” said GMP in a statement.

“It was a different approach to local policing, but the results have been indisputable. Counterfeit crime – once entrenched and run by a complex network of organised crime groups in the area – has virtually disappeared,” said the force.

As a result of the operation, retail units once devoted to criminal activity have been cleared out and in some cases refitted ready for new, legitimate businesses. The operation has won a prestigious Tilley Award for problem-solving in UK policing.

“Policing alone could not have solved the problems,” said Detective Superintendent Neil Blackwood of GMP Operation Vulcan.

“We were fortunate to have many dedicated partners on board since day one – including Manchester City Council, Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Immigration Enforcement, Manchester Trading Standards, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, the Anti-Counterfeiting Group, Intellectual Property Office, brand experts and more,” he added.

“In shutting down the counterfeit shops we’ve seen a reduction in violent crime, vehicle crime and theft from person, drug dealing is no longer blatant and people walking in the area report that they feel safer.”