Police, trading standards and immigration officers visited 12 premises across South Manchester on Monday (October 26) as part of an operation targeting cash-rich businesses suspected of facilitating money laundering and other criminality.
The Manchester Evening News spent a full working day with one multi-agency team as they carried out eight inspections, looking for illicit goods and ensuring businesses were operating legally.
Operation Machinize
The operation was led by Manchester City Council's trading standards and supported by GMP. It came under the umbrella of Operation Machinize, a nationwide crime blitz spearheaded by the National Crime Agency (NCA). It follows three other similar local operations which have led to the seizure of more than £1 million of cash, illegal vapes, tobacco, and counterfeit goods.
After receiving intelligence that illegal tobacco was being sold at eight shops in the city, officers paid them all a visit.
Burnage store discovery
At a corner shop in Burnage, four police officers walked in and asked a couple paying at the till to take their shopping and leave quickly. Three staff were taken to one side while their details were taken, and the owner was quizzed as a spaniel called Milo, one of two specialist detection dogs trained to sniff out tobacco, was led inside.
Milo led officers to a small area behind the till, where bags containing packets of more than 4,000 cigarettes and 1,750 g of shisha were uncovered. The shop owner was told the packaging didn't comply with regulations and that the appropriate tax may not have been paid on them. Officers also seized 21 disposable vapes, which they said cannot be recharged and don't comply with new regulations.
PC Francesa Hooley said illicit tobacco in particular often 'leads to organised crime.' "It has to start somewhere," she said. "There's so much money to be made in it. Usually it's hidden, that's why the dog is so important. They are sniffing out the tobacco we can't see. It's often hidden in ceilings, in floorboards, in places you would never think to look."
Didsbury and Chorlton searches
At a convenience store in Didsbury, officers blocked the door to prevent customers entering. Police and trading standards had previously made a large seizure of cigarettes there, discovered in a cavity in the wall of a toilet in the back room. Although initial searches didn't turn anything up, officers spent more than an hour turning the place upside down, with the detection dog indicating the area around the till.
No illegal cigarettes were eventually found, but 31 small toys, including squishy toys, were seized from a shelf due to a lack of required labelling and fears of safety risks. The man behind the counter, who claimed to be scared of dogs, was led in handcuffs to his vehicle, which was searched. Nothing was found.
PC Jason Morris said: "We understand the crisis we're living in at the moment, and that the cost of living is quite high. Someone might just think they're getting some cheap cigarettes, which they are. But we don't know what's inside them, so they could be harmful to them. They are also, inadvertently, funding organised crime, and they don't realise it."
At two shops in Chorlton, officers had received allegations of suspicious comings and goings between a shop allegedly selling illegal tobacco and a barbershop around the corner. Both were searched to no avail. At the second, information had been received that customers were being taken to a small white van around the corner. A wooden panel was unscrewed from the wall in a rear toilet, but nothing was found.
Whalley Range arrest
Officers also navigated a perilous set of stairs into a foul-smelling cellar at a shop in Northenden, and ripped down a piece of tarpaulin acting as a makeshift barrier between two interlinked shops in Wythenshawe, though nothing was found at either.
At a shop in Whalley Range, officers' attention was drawn to a man inside who was seen stacking items from a box onto a shelf before grabbing a packet of sweets and allegedly pretending to pay for them. The man, who claimed not to speak good English and to be living in a hotel, was arrested and handcuffed after initially refusing to provide identification. A balaclava was found in his pocket. He was eventually dearrested after officers found an ID card on a nearby shelf.
It transpired he had applied for asylum and had been in the country much longer than the 20 days he initially told the officer. He was referred to immigration authorities over the police's suspicion that he was working, which those subject to ongoing asylum applications are prohibited from doing.
After extensive searches, a recess was found behind a panel in the till area containing a number of packets of cigarettes, which turned out to be legitimate. No items were seized, but referrals were to be made to Environmental Health and the electricity board after a dead rat was allegedly spotted, and safety concerns over electricity wires and ladders down to a cellar were raised.
Separately, immigration officers accompanied by police visited four car washes in the south of the city. All those whose details were checked were found to be working legally.
Speaking afterwards, PC Hooley said: "I think it's been a very, very successful day. Not necessarily in relation to seizures, but in relation to partnership working, and the way we've all worked together. So it's gone quite well. And the same with us, so. It's allowed us to gather intelligence to put towards warrants and things like that."
