Counterfeit goods recovered from businesses in multi-agency operation

"Many of the businesses visited during the enforcement activity in our area led us to recover counterfeit clothing and toys including a quantity of tobacco which had been imported illegally."

In Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland 15 premises were visited as part of a national crackdown on money laundering and other types of criminality through cash-intensive high street businesses.

Officers recovered more than £89,000 of counterfeit or other illicit property and just over £6,000 worth of shisha tobacco, where no duty had been paid meaning they had likely been smuggled into the UK with the business owner benefitting.

Operation Machinize 2, led by the National Crime Agency (NCA) and conducted in cooperation with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), ran throughout October and involved every UK police force and Regional Organised Crime Unit, Home Office Immigration Enforcement, Trading Standards, HM Revenue & Customs and Companies House.

HMRC will now pursue the business owners for unpaid duty and taxes who will also be liable for large fines from both HMRC and Trading Standards and may face prosecution.

Paul Wenlock from the force’s Economic Crime Unit, said: “A huge effort has gone into this national campaign, involving forces from across the country and several other partner agencies.

“The aim was to identify and disrupt illegal activity and focus on cash intensive businesses who were flouting the law.

“Many of the businesses visited during the enforcement activity in our area led us to recover counterfeit clothing and toys including a quantity of tobacco which had been imported illegally.

“We fully support the NCA and NPCC’s efforts to target organised crime groups who use our local communities to raise funds for their criminal activities in plain sight, and focuses on money laundering, the criminal use of cash-intensive high street businesses, and immigration crime.”