By Chris King • 22 May 2023 • 19:22
Image of counterfeit items seized by the Guardia Civil. Credit: Guardia Civil
Eight individuals have been arrested by the Guardia Civil in the Vizcaya region of Spain for counterfeiting garments whose value exceeded €2.5m.
According to a statement from the force today, Monday, May 22, a total of 31,800 counterfeit textile items were confiscated. These included 4,300 football kits, 180 watches, and more than 1,300 bags.
The group broken up by the force had a clandestine workshop in the town of Sestao where officers discovered more than 100,000 labels and trademark logos used in the manufacture of these counterfeit products.
Specifically, counterfeiting clothing and accessories estimated to be worth around €2,748,000 on the open market were seized. Those detained face charges of a crime against industrial property for the falsification of 31,800 items.
An investigation was launched last November when officers from the Vizcaya tax and border patrols detected the illegal sale of numerous counterfeit garments and accessories in markets spread across different towns in the Biscay region.
Two houses in Sestao were found to be in use as warehouses, where street vendors kept the illegal merchandise to later put it up for sale.
The organisation was said to be perfectly structured with its members each having a defined role in its structure. While some carried out tasks of custody and storage of the illegal merchandise, others marketed the counterfeit items.
Faced with such evidence and with the authorisation of a court in Barakaldo, two houses and premises located in the Sestao building were raided by the Guardia Civil.
During the search of a storage room, the investigators discovered a fully equipped clandestine workshop. It was complete with machinery for sewing, die-cutting and screen-printing garments and textile accessories. There was also computer equipment with the necessary elements required to reproduce counterfeits.
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Originally from Wales, Chris spent years on the Costa del Sol before moving to the Algarve where he is a web reporter for The Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com
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