A BURY home was among 11 premises searched during a crackdown on tax evasion, smuggling and immigration in Greater Manchester.

Eight men were arrested on Wednesday when HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) officers seized 137,600 cigarettes, 73 kilos of tobacco, counterfeit cash, and four vehicles, during searches of nine retail, one domestic address and one storage container in relation to suspected tax evasion, in the Bury, Strangeways and Cheetham Hill areas.

The HMRC-led operation included officers from Greater Manchester Police (GMP), Manchester and Salford City Councils Trading Standards teams, Immigration Enforcement, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), and the Intellectual Property Office (IPO).

The enforcement activity involves investigations into a number of suspected offences, including tax evasion, smuggling, immigration and counterfeiting.

Mike Parkinson, assistant director, Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC, said: “HMRC has significant criminal and civil powers to disrupt criminality and tackle tax evasion on many levels.

“Sharing intelligence on suspected criminal activity with other agencies and working together is key to our enforcement work.

“Combined with the powers of our partners we are able to take effective action to ensure nobody is acting above the law.”

During the operation, officers from Immigration Enforcement also arrested six men for immigration offences. Trading Standards removed counterfeit goods worth estimated £2m from 11 premises.

The MHRA seized 49,350 individual doses of unlicensed medicines and GMP seized two vans and issued several dispersal notices.

Rebekah Sutcliffe, assistant chief constable, GMP, said: “This is a great result and a fantastic example of what can be achieved through working closely with our partners in HMRC and Trading Standards.

“These practices have a far-reaching effect on people’s lives. The Strangeways area is one of the largest counterfeit goods suppliers in the UK and the sale of these products has a huge impact on local taxpayers and businesses, as well as potentially funding more serious and violent crime.

“Today we send a message that we will not allow people to profit from flooding the streets of our communities with counterfeit goods – it will not be tolerated.”

Investigations into the arrests and seizures are continuing.