The huge haul of what is believed to be fake designer fashion, trainers and jewellery is one of the largest ever taken in the city.

It was seized along with small quantities of class B and C drugs and a weapon, believed to be a knife, during a raid on Saturday.

An 80-strong team of officers backed by police dogs stormed the stalls searching for suspects and goods.

The raid marked the culmination of months of intelligence work by the force, who made 21 arrests as a result.

Police say the illegal sale of counterfeit goods, including clothes, CDs and DVDs, is part of a network of serious and organised crime that is allegedly linked to drug gangs and violence.

Operation “Amarillo” began shortly after 11am, when about 20 undercover officers moved into position at the stalls.

The detectives confronted the stall holders and made the area secure before giving the signal for the support teams to move in.

The sight of scores of uniformed police wearing high-visibility jackets streaming into the Barras from all directions proved too much for some traders.

One bolted, leaving the entire contents of his stall behind to be seized. Another fled leaving the keys to his van still in the ignition.

However, most stall holders cooperated with the investigation, and police filled bags full of suspected fake goods.

Most of the seized material was items of clothing that will be analysed by industry experts to determine whether they are genuine brand products.

There were also substantial seizures of pirate DVDs as well as pirate CDs and computer software.

Detective Inspector Alan Hunter said: “The amount of suspect property seized, estimated to be about £2.5m worth of goods, is certainly one of the largest we’ve recovered. It’s absolutely massive, a phenomenal result.”

Superintendent Val Thomson, head of B Division, which covers Calton and the east end, said it sent a strong message to the organised gangs who are behind the counterfeit goods industry.

She said: “We’ve seized a significant amount of property today, along with one offensive weapon. We’ve caused serious disruption to what is organised criminal activity.

“It also sends a message to the public, who are delighted to see police out in numbers like this. This has been building up for a number of months, through surveillance and intelligence work.

“Apart from the fact that this trade is illegal, it’s what’s going on behind the scenes that’s the big issue for us.

“This is an organised criminal industry, making significant amounts of money, in some cases as much as £20,000 a day, in a single stall through the sale of counterfeit goods. The question is: where is that money going? Is it going to drugs? To gang violence?

“We know of one incident, unrelated to today’s police action, where one organised criminal group was trying to muscle in on the trade in counterfeit DVDs, which lead to a serious assault that we know about and believe to be gang-related, but is yet to be reported to the police.

“I certainly have evidence that some of the money from the trade in counterfeit goods is going into drugs in the area, and that is something we are cracking down on.”