An award-winning reporter’s investigation has revealed Manchester’s ‘Counterfeit Capital’ has gone digital – with illegal traders now operating through encrypted Telegram channels, prompting new police raids.
Manchester Evening News reporter James Holt, recently named Young Journalist of the Year at the Regional Press Awards, uncovered evidence that sellers previously operating in Cheetham Hill’s Bury New Road have moved their trade to Telegram.
Holt’s reporting prompted Greater Manchester Police (GMP) to carry out dawn raids last week after he identified a suspected decoy returns address used by the illicit operation.
For decades, Cheetham Hill was notorious for its fake designer goods trade, linked to organised crime and exploitation. A major police and council crackdown had shut down physical stores, but Holt’s investigation revealed the trade had simply gone underground.
By joining an encrypted Telegram group under an alias, Holt was able to purchase a counterfeit Dior T-shirt within minutes, demonstrating how easily fake goods are now being sold online.
Holt’s investigation, which was published on the MEN here, traced a returns address believed to be used as a cover for the operation. After the MEN shared the information with GMP, officers raided the property and discovered counterfeit goods hidden in a dustbin outside.
Holt said: “Having worked at the MEN for over three years and being deeply embedded in our communities, I knew about the reputation of Cheetham Hill as Europe’s ‘counterfeit capital’. For more than three decades, shops flogging fake designer clothes had been a popular destination for shoppers – who were often blissfully unaware of the illegal industry’s undercurrents of organised crime, exploitation and human trafficking. When GMP announced they were cracking down on it and shutting the physical stores for good it was a massive turning point, but simply just pushed the sellers into operating online.
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“I was able to join an encrypted chat group under an alias and quickly and easily buy a fake Dior t-shirt. It was just one network of potentially thousands of others that specialist police teams are trying to monitor with great difficulty. Through our investigation work, I was able to uncover a returns address for parcels – which police believe was being used as a decoy location and the stock stored elsewhere.
“Following our intel, GMP acted on our tip-off, raiding the property and finding a number of counterfeit goods stashed in a dustbin outside. This reporting uncovered simply how the online market for fake goods is booming more than ever and even more difficult to trace through the use of encrypted chat services – but nevertheless our reporting prompted the police to act.”
The case highlights how criminal networks are adapting to digital platforms, presenting fresh challenges for authorities. It also underscores the role of local journalism in uncovering illegal activity and driving enforcement.
GMP has confirmed it is monitoring online counterfeit sales but acknowledged the difficulty of tracking encrypted transactions.
