Fight against piracy and counterfeiting: Operation ‘Battery’

• The production centre, hidden behind a partition in a warehouse in the Cobo Calleja industrial estate in Fuenlabrada, had six machines capable of preparing 25,000 battery packs and electronic memory cards of well-known brands a day.
• Two Chinese nationals have been arrested for alleged crimes of smuggling and industrial property
• In addition to the machinery for production and packaging, 226,000 batteries, more than 5,000 pendrives, 176 memory cards and 250 boxes with hundreds of thousands of products for packaging and labelling have been seized.

May 1, 2018 .- On April 19, the Tax Agency dismantled a clandestine warehouse in the Cobo Calleja industrial estate in Fuenlabrada (Madrid) dedicated to the counterfeiting of batteries and USB flash drives, using the logos of two well-known brands in the sector. The plant had the capacity to label and package 25,000 packs of batteries per day using generic batteries from China, generating revenues of around 75,000 euros per working day. During the so-called 'Battery' operation, two Chinese nationals were arrested and machinery and a large amount of manufacturing, packaging and labelling material were seized.

The operation began when Customs Surveillance officials from the Tax Agency became aware of suspicious movements, due to the unusual hours at which they occurred, in an area of the Cobo Calleja industrial estate in Fuenlabrada. Subsequent investigations led to the delimitation of a certain area of the industrial estate, which ended up revealing two warehouses in one of the streets of the surveillance perimeter, located between two Chinese restaurants, which were completely different from the rest and were strategically located, on the corner of an alley with a surveillance camera.

With the investigations focused on these warehouses, on April 19, officials from the Customs Surveillance Operational Unit of the Tax Agency in Madrid proceeded to search both facilities. Specifically, in one of them, the employee of an agency is identified and it is verified that the measurements of the premises to be registered do not coincide with the exterior measurements of the warehouse.

At that moment, two Chinese nationals tried to run out through the back door of the warehouse, carrying the keys to the door and a green plastic bag with documentation referring to customer lists and merchandise inventory. At that moment the officials stopped them and discovered that a partition separated the ship into two parts; On one hand, the agency, which has no relation to the illegal activity, and on the other, a space hidden from view from the main street.

Machinery in motion

Inside the warehouse, officials found still-warm machinery, which was used to place adhesives of a well-known brand on virgin stacks (without any type of brand), as well as cardboard for packaging, boxes, stickers for the boxes, and the rest of the elements necessary to impersonate brands using generic batteries.
 
Also found on the ship were flash drives of various capacities that simulated another well-known brand and various microSD memory adapters. Since cardboard boxes of this brand were also found that were not used for packaging, investigators are certain that the electronic memories detected are also fake.

The clandestine factory had the capacity to prepare around 25,000 battery packs a day, which could represent an estimated, undeclared income of around 75,000 euros a day.

The two Chinese nationals are brought before the judicial authorities, one man as a detainee and the other a woman as a suspect, for alleged crimes of smuggling and industrial property.

The affected brands have taken charge of the seized goods and the proceedings have been sent to the Court of Instruction No. 5 of Fuenlabrada, Madrid, acting as on-call court.

Intervened material

• 4 machines for battery production; Each machine corresponds to a battery size.
• 1 machine for heating blisters for packaging batteries.
• 1 machine to assemble the final package.
• 1 compressor.
• Batteries: 226,400 units.
• Pendrives (different capacities): 5,100 units
• Micro SD cards + adapter: 176 units
• 250 boxes with hundreds of thousands of units of diverse material for assembly, packaging, labeling and packing

Customs Supervision: Filing of complaints for smuggling and related crimes
Free telephone number 900351378.
Email: denunciasvigilanciaaduanera@correo.aeat.es

Note: Photographic appendix included.