Alex Trelinski
A fraud involving bogus brand labels being slapped onto cheap clothes imports has been broken up by the Guardia Civil in the Murcia region.
A warehouse was raided in Archena with almost 10,000 counterfeit products seized and over 16,000 home-made labels and boxes featuring well-known brand names like Nike.
The retail value of the fake products would have been €1.7 million.
Six men and six women, of Spanish and Paraguayan nationalities, are being investigated over commercial fraud and the forging of documents.
An investigation into the scam started in June 2020 when the Guardia Civil heard about the warehouse being home to the criminal enterprise.
Direct sales to customers were made from the building as well as regular shipments via parcel companies.
12 people were identified as members of a structured criminal gang.
Roles included people in charge of producing the bogus brand labels and using thermo-adhesives on garments and footwear to produce convincing copies of legitimate products.
Other team members ran online sales and oversaw national distribution of the fake items.
Logos and labels of 34 different sports brands and design firms were used, with the actual clothes and footwear obtained cheaply from Asian and European dealerships.
READ MORE:
- Benidorm police seize hundreds of fake clothes from cheap bazaar shops in Costa Blanca resort in Spain
- Police seize bumbags, football shirts and Calvin Klein underpants in huge fake clothes bust in Spain’s Andalucia
- EU-funded task force seizes counterfeit items of clothing and luxury goods worth €16.5m in Spain
