Media Centre / Case Studies

Date: 09/12/2005
Location: Northumbria

In December 2005, a multi agency operation involving FACT, South Tyneside Trading Standards and Northumbria Police disrupted and thwarted a group of individuals operating in a well known local market. Covert surveillance revealed that the perpetrators were using a second hand stall to front their activities. The stall was actually being used to sell counterfeit DVDs and music as well as counterfeit and duty free cigarettes.

Simultaneous raids were carried out on the market and the properties and vehicles of the counterfeiters. Officers seized computers and counterfeit DVDs along with counterfeit cigarettes. A quantity of illegal drugs was found in the possession of one of the market traders and in one of vehicles.

The investigation also uncovered a large quantity of paperwork relating to sales of counterfeit product over the internet. Investigators traced the counterfeit DVD master copies back to the Far East.

Associated crime types: Counterfeit cigarettes and drugs