- 18,022 counterfeit items have been intervened, of which 16,837 are sports equipment of first-level football teams
- It should be noted that 13,749 equipments correspond to the four reference teams of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, the largest apprehension carried out so far
- Agents discovered that ten of the authors would have collected more than €68,000 from the Income Guarantee Income (RGI)
- They are attributed, respectively, the commission of a crime against industrial property and belonging to a criminal group
The Civil Guard, within the framework of Operation Ablegatio, has arrested twelve people and investigated two others for marketing counterfeit garments and effects of first commercial brands, mainly football equipment, valued at more than 2.1 million euros. They face one crime against industrial property and another for belonging to a criminal group for marketing 18,022 counterfeit items.
The investigations began in June, when civil guards of the Fiscal and Border Patrols of the Biscay Command, carrying out investigations aimed at preventing smuggling and other illicit trafficking, discovered that, in two buildings in the town of Sestao, large quantities of counterfeit goods were periodically received from China.
The agents discovered a novel modus operandi, in which members of the criminal group regularly placed orders with several distributors in the Asian country, highlighting the supranational nature of the organization. The goods were shipped through other European countries belonging to the Union’s Customs Code, thus avoiding Spanish controls.
Once the goods were in the national territory, the members of the network concealed the gender in several homes or introduced them directly into vehicles to market them in street stalls installed in flea markets, located in several towns in Biscay and the province of Cantabria.
Faced with such evidence and under the direction of Examining Court No. 3 of Barakaldo, the agents of the Fiscal and Border Patrols carried out entries and searches in five homes, located in two buildings located in Sestao, where the stored counterfeit articles were located, ready for distribution and subsequent sale.
The criminal group was almost exclusively dedicated to commercializing pieces of football equipment, since during the records there were 16,837 pieces of equipment, highlighting the immense volume of T-shirts of the four reference football teams of the Basque Country, a total of 13,749, being so far the largest number of arrests made in football club facilities in the Basque Country.
The civil guards also intervened in perfumery items, handbags, underwear, eyewear covers, wallets and other textile garments, in addition to 5,015 euros in cash.
Twelve people have been arrested and two others investigated, both of them being attributed offences against industrial property and belonging to a criminal group. The total value of the counterfeit articles intervened amounts to 2,165,766 euros.
The agents found that most of the members of the criminal group were beneficiaries of the Income Guarantee Income (RGI), varying the amounts of aid each received. To date, it has been known that ten of the members of the criminal network have collected more than € 68,000 in this aid.
The investigation was carried out by the Fiscal and Border Patrols of the Bizkaia Command, with support in the records of the Reserve Nucleus, Fiscal and Border Detachment of Barakaldo and the Posts of Bilbao, Durango and Gernika.