Shoppers trapped as Manchester store owners run off with keys
12 members of the public freed by police investigating counterfeit stores
Last updated 8th Jan 2023
Three men have been arrested in Manchester after members of the public were locked inside a shop while the owners ran off with the keys.
The 12 shoppers, who included a young child, were freed by police working as part of 'Operation Vulcan' to investigate counterfeit stores.
They were called to the shop on Moulton Street , Strangeways, on Friday, at approximately 2pm.
Officers had to breakdown the shutters of the shop after they were disabled from the inside.
Three men have been arrested on suspicion of false imprisonment and trademark offences.
They remain in police custody for questioning.
Inspector Andrew Torkington, one of Operation Vulcan’s specialist officers said: “This was a dangerous and unsettling situation we encountered.
"The owners of the shop had disabled the shutters and locked the customers inside, all in an effort to stop police finding and seizing their counterfeit items.
"Had we not been able to get inside the shop, who knows how long the members of the public would have been stuck inside before the owners braved returning.
“Counterfeiting is a crime, which is why the shop keepers are so desperate to avoid police detection.
"These clothes are of dubious, often dangerous quality, manufactured in filthy and appalling conditions.
"They’re being shipped to the UK where fake logos are applied by staff who are forced to work in exploitative conditions.
"They are then sold across shops in Cheetham Hill, which, as we’ve mentioned before, these buildings are structurally unsafe, littered with rat urine and faeces, and manned by shopkeepers who have weapons stashed.
“Operation Vulcan has been set up to disrupt every level of criminality in this area. We are less than one week into 2023 and this is the second largescale store that we will empty, close, and prosecute those responsible.
"Cheetham Hill and Strangeways will no longer be synonymous with counterfeit goods."