Fake goods worth up to £15m are seized
These are just some of the items found in a £15 million haul of counterfeit goods destined for markets and car boot sales around the country this Christmas.
The seizure, thought to be the biggest ever in the UK mainland, was as a result of a Watchdog investigation sparked by fake goods found at car boot sales in Cannock and Himley.
The "unprecedented" seizure of hundreds of boxes of items ranged from up-market headphones, DVDs and CDs, to counterfeit branded clothing.
Among the haul were copies of the trendy Beats by Dr Dre headphones, which usually retail for between £90 and £450 each. The crates are now being stored at a secure site in Staffordshire.
It was initially thought the total value of the goods was about £10m but more a more detailed stock-take has pushed the value up to almost £15m.
The goods were discovered after a raid on premises in Birmingham by county council trading standards and Staffordshire Police officers on December 6 after a tip-off.
No one has been arrested, but police investigations are continuing.
Staffordshire County Council communities chief Councillor Pat Corfield said: "Our trading standards officers are confident they have smashed a major supply route in the manufacture and retail of counterfeit goods. The scale of this seizure is unprecedented and we believe it may be the biggest single seizure of counterfeit goods by a trading standards team anywhere in the country and certainly here in the Midlands.
"Officers were amazed at the size of the haul as they catalogued and recorded the goods before they were removed to a secure storage facility."
The action was welcomed by the Federation Against Copyright Theft and the British Phonographic Industry, which represents recording artists.
Industry's anti-piracy director David Wood said the record industry lost £100m through counterfeit sales, and thanked trading standards and the police for a "diligent and professional" investigation.
