Catalonia had the largest counterfeit perfume factory in Europe

GironaMajor police operation against counterfeit goods market in Catalonia. The Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) and the Customs Surveillance Service of the Spanish Tax Agency (AEAT), with the collaboration of French Customs, have dismantled a large criminal organization in the Girona region dedicated to trafficking counterfeit perfumes. According to investigators, this is the largest counterfeit perfume factory detected to date in Europe. The administrators of the illicit business have fled and are currently wanted by police. The investigation indicates that they are a couple. The woman, who had knowledge of chemistry, was responsible for preparing the mixtures for the counterfeit products. In total, the joint operation seized more than 1,200,000 products that copied luxury brands, with an estimated value exceeding 94 million euros, based on the market price of the original perfumes. Seven people have been arrested but not imprisoned, and another eleven are under investigation for crimes including membership in a criminal organization, smuggling, and offenses against industrial property. The police dismantled the operations center in an industrial park between Fogars de la Selva and Hostalric, next to the AP-7 highway, a strategic location for the gang, which shipped counterfeit goods by road to France and other European countries, attempting to blend in with trucks loaded with boxes marked "Fragile" (This is how the police have referred to the operation).

"When we stopped several trucks at different times, we discovered they were all connected because the cargo was labeled the same way and they were transporting perfumes. Although this shouldn't have raised any red flags, since the movement of goods through the area is common, all the vehicles were headed towards the warehouses," said Carlos Martínez, a Mossos d'Esquadra officer in Girona. He added: "This operation reinforces the force's concern about crimes against industrial property; it's a problem with many ramifications and significant impacts on the social fabric."

More than four months of investigations

The police investigation began in early October thanks to international cooperation with French customs authorities. Last autumn, border police seized 2,600 bottles of counterfeit perfume from Girona, raising suspicions. Subsequently, on January 27, two more vans with Romanian license plates were intercepted in France carrying 6,955 bottles. These actions led investigators to three warehouses in the Selva region. On January 28, an inspection was carried out at two premises located in an industrial park in Fogars de la Selva. These premises appeared to the public as legitimate perfume and cosmetics businesses, even displaying samples on shelves. However, the employees lacked work permits, and Customs Surveillance discovered a fully operational clandestine factory in the back. Inside, police seized bottles, stoppers, sprayers, boxes, sheets with logos, and all kinds of materials for the production and presentation of products from more than 50 luxury brands and models. To the surprise of the police, who expected to find a logistics center and not a production plant (as these are not common in the country), they discovered two interconnected rooms with seven production lines and 150,000 liters of product for making perfumes. Its estimated potential capacity was more than four million bottles per year. Police suspect the plant had been operating for at least two years. In a third, more secluded warehouse in Sant Feliu de Buixalleu, they found hundreds of jugs and drums of aromatic elixirs, tanks of denatured alcohol, and another 800,000 bottles. Meanwhile, on February 6th and 7th, at the Puigcerdà border crossing, the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) detected three trucks attempting to collect merchandise without valid documentation, carrying approximately 10,000 identically labeled bottles of suspicious perfume. Further actions led to the identification of a final warehouse in Arbúcies acting as a logistics center, which was dismantled on February 8th. A search warrant was executed, resulting in the seizure of 350,000 bottles of perfume and various documents. The entire operation was directed by the investigating court of Arenys de Mar and involved the participation of Customs Surveillance from Girona and Barcelona, ​​as well as the Reaction and Intervention Group (GRI). The investigation, expected to be lengthy, remains open, and further arrests are possible.