LOOKING AT THE LOOKIE LOOKIE MEN

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Whilst the streets of Torrevieja may have a higher visual presence of law enforcers to try and stamp out the illegal street traders, a whole investigation is going on behind the scenes to find out what motivates the “lookie lookie” man, why he is so drawn to Torrevieja, and what exactly can be made from the sales of counterfeited goods.

There was a time, only a couple of years ago, when the situation had been brought under control, but recent ignorance of their activities have led to an intolerable position in the city of Torrevieja, leading to riots, assaults and countless people reporting they are too scared to even walk the streets anymore, as the lack of policing was so apparent.

Although there is seldom a time when one of these sellers isn´t visible on the streets, unless of course you are a CCTV operator in Torrevieja, for whom they appear to be invisible, there is allegedly a whole network behind what we see on the ground, with less than a dozen Senegalese allegedly controlling the entire operation. It has been said that there are around 80 sellers operating on the streets of Torrevieja at any one time, this number doubling in the summer, and often even reaching nearly 250 at times.

The investigations reveal that each seller is governed by one of three cells that operate in the area, with all revenue being handed in to a central fund. It is perhaps no wonder that the sellers get upset when their revenue stream is taken away, as has been the case with recent confiscations of goods on sale. The need for them to earn for their cell is what motivates them back onto the streets, even though they may have faced court proceedings. Part of this money is filtered back to the sellers, for payment of rent, food, living expenses and the likes, in a Faginesque picture of organized crime.

If you are ever tempted to buy any of these items, you might want to consider a little about their origin, and the quality of manufacture, even if you are willing to accept that the items for sale are clearly fakes. With a massive supply network of wholesale warehouses, mostly of imported or manufactured goods from China, with a large concentration in Elche, the street sellers are able to buy their wares at next to nothing, often making ten to twenty times the cost on the sale in the streets.

If you are curious of the price and subsequent “mark up”, you might be interested to know some of the prices that are charged at wholesale level, in bulk, often by the hundreds. Wholesale, bulk price of a “designer” bag – 3.30€, adding 0.50€ for a unique logo of your choice, say Gucci, Louis Vuitton etc – retail price around 30€ up to 50€, depending on the bartering skills of the buyer. Sunglasses – bulk price 0.50€ – selling at around 10.00€. Watches, depending on the style – between 2.50€ and 5.00€, wholesale – retail price to you, “very, very cheap”, at just 25.00€ to 30.00€, possibly even more, if you happen to look gullible enough. If you are tempted to buy something, at least you now know the price to aim for, bearing in mind though that the threat of prosecuting the buyer is still looming in Torrevieja.

It is also no wonder that legal traders in the city, already facing hardship through the darker economic times, also feel severely let down by the lack of action from the town hall. These traders of course sell goods at a higher price than on the street, but they sell genuine items, pay tax, rent, utilities, wages, in fact, they have all of the usual businesses expenses to face on a regular basis, including their contribution to the town hall, some of which goes towards keeping the streets safer through the police. Genuine people, doing everything in their power to work and sell legal items, and trying to earn a living at the same time.

As for the current stance on zero tolerance, only time will tell if it works or not. But zero tolerance is also limited, it would appear that selling the items is not acceptable, but what about offences relating to public order, affray, riot, assault, criminal damage, endangering public safety, although these may be words taken from English law, these are all clearly taking place, having seen the video evidence in recent days still, but with zero action from the authorities. After all, if you or I were to go into Torrevieja, pick up a chair and throw it at a police officer, the outcome would no doubt be considerably different than in this case. Confiscating the items is all very well, but if a crime is being committed then those responsible ought to face the judicial system too, as should the ring leaders if they are identified, and of course the wholesale sellers who are also passing off counterfeited goods.

The investigation clearly reveals that the problem will not be solved by a few more police officers hanging around the streets, but by direct action to bring those responsible to justice, assuming justice does its bit to deal with them using the power of the law.

Filed under: http://www.theleader.info/article/40062/

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