More than six million counterfeit products seized including Euro Cup shirts

The Fiscal and Border Unit of the Guardia Civil in Madrid and the Regional Customs Surveillance Area of ​​the Tax Agency in Madrid, in a joint operation, have seized more than six million counterfeit products, including a large number of football shirts from the Euro Cup and Copa America teams.

They have also seized 4.5 tons of other articles pending counting that could presumably infringe industrial property rights. More than thirty internationally recognised brands could have been affected if their introduction into the market had not been prevented.

The investigations were initiated following a complaint from one of the brands that could be affected by these actions. As a result, five logistics operators located in the Cobo Calleja industrial estate in Fuenlabrada (Madrid) were inspected.

In the first of these, a total of 3,367,412 counterfeit items were seized. In the second, the sum rose to 1,554,484 items. The third and fourth operators stored a total of 1,045,870 products. Finally, the fifth operator inspected housed 32,508 items. Of the more than six million items, a good part are football shirts from different teams and national teams that are competing in international tournaments, including the Copa América and the Euro Cup.

The magnitude of the operation is even more significant when one takes into account that a sixth logistics operator also seized more than 4.5 tons of various types of products that, apparently, could be new counterfeits ready to be introduced into illicit channels for the purpose of their subsequent commercialisation.

The investigation is still ongoing, pending clarification of the relationships between the various operators under investigation, as well as their possible extension to third-party companies that could be involved in these illegal activities.

The operation is part of the actions that the Guardia Civil and the Tax Agency’s Customs Surveillance Service are carrying out to combat fraud and the black economy, all in order to provide adequate protection to end consumers.