Joint operation of the Tax Agency, the General Corps of the Canary Islands Police and the Local Police of Agüimes

• Searches have been carried out at a premises on La Naval street in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and two industrial warehouses in the town of Agüimes, in the south of the island.
• The seized goods have a value of around 5 million euros
• There are five people of Chinese nationality and residents of the Canary Islands accused of a crime against Industrial Property

March 7, 2023.- Customs Surveillance officials from the Tax Agency, in a joint operation with agents from the General Corps of the Canary Islands Police and the Local Police of Agüimes, have seized more than 16,000 counterfeit products of exclusive brands and 80 boxes of expired masks in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Five people of Chinese nationality are under investigation.

The investigations were initiated by the Risk Analysis Unit of the Maritime Customs of the port of Las Palmas, which detected shipments of counterfeit goods originating in China and destined for a merchant residing on the island of Gran Canaria.

From that moment on, a surveillance and verification operation was initiated by the Customs Surveillance Operational Unit of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, which determined the existence of the warehouses and the retail premises. The final intervention was coordinated with the General Police Corps of the Canary Islands and the Local Police of Agüimes, in order to carry out simultaneous interventions in a coordinated manner in both municipalities. During this phase of exploitation, a bazaar in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and two warehouses in the town of Agüimes, in the south of the island, were searched.

Following the searches, the masks and counterfeits were seized. According to estimates by specialist experts, the seized items could be worth around 5 million euros.