Attack on a global retail hub in Lleida that distributed goods worldwide
From April to August, more than 135,000 counterfeit items worth €26 million were seized in Catalonia.
BarcelonaAs if it were a huge online shopping logistics warehouse, but with stacks and stacks of seemingly official shirts with Messi's number 10 on the back, €1,000 sneakers with fake brand certificates, and shorts that cost more than €500 on the legal market. Everything was ready to be packaged and sent via legal courier companies to all those who had placed orders via WhatsApp. This is what the Civil Guard found in two stores in the Lleida district after changing their strategy against the black market in the so-called Kermel operation.
"We observed a significant increase in the seizure of counterfeit items and wanted to know why this was happening," explained Antonio Lorenzo, captain of the Civil Guard in Lleida and one of those responsible for the operation, which was one of the most significant blows this security force has ever made against the black market. "Behind this was a criminal network that received counterfeit material and redistributed it to various locations in Catalonia and the Spanish state, but also throughout Europe and in countries outside the continent," Lorenzo explained.
The three-month investigation has resulted in the arrest of the network's leader—a man police have described as "a completely normal person and a low-key local"—and the seizure of more than 31,000 counterfeit items with a market value of approximately €5.2 million. Furthermore, the criminal organization considered one of the main suppliers of counterfeit products to the street vendors of the Costa Daurada has been dismantled.
Beyond the quantitative aspect of the operation, the Spanish government delegate in Catalonia, Carlos Prieto, has insisted on assessing the "qualitative" factor of the operation with which, for the first time, "bases" for storing counterfeit products have been detected in Lleida. "Some people are trying to turn Catalonia into a hub of distribution of counterfeit products, therefore, I want to send a direct message to the mafias: we will not stop until we win this battle," Prieto warned.
Despite the arrest of the head of the network, the police force has warned that the investigation is not over, since they still have to trace the route that the clothing took to where it was redistributed. "We know that the man came to the rest of Spain and Europe, but not how he obtained the items," Lorenzo admitted, who has detailed how the invoices and boxes of the products are now being analyzed to determine their origin. who often used third-party ID cards to make it difficult for the police to follow their commercial activity.
Three times as many items seized as last year
"We must break with the idea that in one flea market anything can be sold and by buying on the black market we are helping a poor immigrant, since behind it there are organized networks that exploit them at work", insisted the head of the Civil Guard in Catalonia, Pedro Antonio Pizarro, who added that the most critical months of the year - from April to August - have now come to an end as far as products from Catalonia are concerned.
This year during these months there have been 51 interventions against the black market in Catalonia between the Civil Guard, the Mossos d'Esquadra, the Urban Guard and the local police. These fifty operations have ended with the seizure of more than 139,000 items, more than the period last year in which 29 operations were carried out and almost 44,000 items valued at 12.5 million euros were seized.
Vallès, Tordera, Sitges, Cubelles, Cambrils, Coma-ruga, la Ràpita, Calafell, Playa de Aro, La Bisbal d'Empordà, Roses and Torrefarrera (Lleida) 25 inspections have also been carried out in stores, mainly in company bazaars. focusing especially on Badalona, La Jonquera, Lloret de Mar, Blanes, L'Estartit and Roses
Finally, apart from Operation Kermel in Lleida, this summer two large devices against the top manta have also been organized in Catalonia. warehouses. An action that sparked a demonstration by street vendors in the municipality itself against the police action. The second was Operation Mocop, carried out primarily in Roses, where several homes and businesses were searched. 34,000 items and 774 logos for printing garments worth €4 million were found.
