Police seize fake toys in Oxford Street stores

Police seized an “astonishing” haul of fake goods in raids on stores on London’s Oxford Street.

BBC News reports that Operation Jade saw more than 17,500 items confiscated from four souvenir and sweet shops on Thursday night.

Among the seized goods were unsafe toys, counterfeit clothing, and incorrectly-labelled nicotine products. An unregistered business also had 4,000 food items taken away, including two bags of food with illegally high limits of Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. THC is the main psychoactive compound in cannabis.

Speaking for Westminster City Council, Heather Acton, said shoppers must be able to trust products bought on London’s busiest shopping street. She added: “The quantity and variety of goods seized by our officers is astonishing. Many of these goods are unsafe, and certainly unhealthy.”

“From cheap imitations of fashionable products to mislabelled tobacco, and even psychoactive substances, it’s vital that we protect customers and get these products off the shelves.”

Acton concluded: “This Christmas is make or break for many high-street shops, and checking retailers will support legitimate businesses and protect the reputation of the West End as a leading destination for shoppers.”

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