Alex Trelinski
A RAZOR blade scam worth over €1 million has been busted by authorities with seven Spaniards and Italians arrested.
The Policia Nacional and the Tax Agency seized over 280,000 counterfeit razor blades in Alicante and Murcia that copied a well-known brand name.
Work by Alicante Customs Surveillance identified the storage locations of the blades that were set to be distributed across the country.
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The Chinese-originated fakes went to wholesalers in Spain and Italy and their final destination were legal supply chains, which the gang hid through a structure of intermediary companies that bought the bogus products.
The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) tipped off police that the fakes were being shipped to Spain and Italy.
Purchases were made directly from the Chinese company using bank transfers from Spain or Italy to give the appearance of a legitimate commercial operation.
A complaint was also made to the Policia Nacional about the forgeries from the genuine razor blade manufacturer.
Five raids in warehouses and homes were carried out on July 2 in Alicante, Murcia and Barcelona, as well as in three businesses in Italy.
Three warehouses in Alicante and Murcia yielded the seizure of 266,656 bogus razor blades (66,664 packs of four blades each).
A further shipment was intercepted in Alicante 10 days later, consisting of 14,400 razor blades.
The cargo also included 3,960 replacement toothbrush heads, which were also falsely branded.
