Major operation against the 'top manta' in Salou: nineteen arrested and three officers injured

BarcelonaThe Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) and the National Police launched an operation this Tuesday morning against a criminal group dedicated to selling counterfeit materials, which were then marketed by street vendors in the Salou area of Tarragona. The operation resulted in nineteen arrests and a large amount of counterfeit material seized. A dozen searches were carried out in homes and warehouses: six in Salou and the rest in Reus and Les Borges del Camp (Baix Camp). This extensive police deployment was met with a hostile response from street vendors, who threw stones at the police line. Three Mossos d'Esquadra officers were injured, and damage was caused to private and police vehicles.

The operation consisted of 300 officers, including Mossos d'Esquadra and the National Police. In addition to citizen security and public order officers, a helicopter and a drone unit also took part in the operation. The investigation, for organized crime and industrial property violations, remains open, according to the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police). Police sources indicate that this investigation has attempted to get to the heart of the counterfeit product trade, targeting major stores and their managers. The same sources indicate that the leaders of the groups, who were responsible for receiving the products and storing them in large stores, mainly in Reus, have been arrested. They then transported them to other locations in Salou so they could be close to the points of sale.

In fact, the mayor of Salou, Pere Granados, has denied that there are warehouses in the city for material that is sold in the blanket topThe mayor stated this after the Local Security Meeting held a few hours after the police operation. "In Salou, blanket top does not exist, the sale of products on the street with the blanket does not exist," the mayor has expressed. He also said that the searches that have been carried out in the police operation in the city have been in "homes."

At the beginning of June there was already an operation, in this case by the Civil Guard, in which two magat were deployed to avoid an escalation of tension. A few dozen vendors protested against the police intervention and stones were thrown and barricades were set up.