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One of the largest distribution centres for illegal toys and health products in Madrid has been dismantled

Joint operation of the Tax Agency, National Police and Municipal Police of Madrid

  • Twelve people have been arrested, and another eight are being investigated, for their alleged membership in an organisation from which a total of 1,352,785 toys and 2,727,946 units of medical devices have been seized.
  • They bought the products disassembled in China and, once introduced into the Spanish market by different means, they were assembled mainly in a warehouse in Pinto to subsequently distribute them to different parts of the rest of the country.
  • The operation was carried out in view of the proximity of Christmas and, therefore, the considerable increase in the consumption of this type of products that puts the health of consumers at risk.

December 18, 2020.- The Tax Agency, in a joint operation with the National Police and the Municipal Police of Madrid, has dismantled one of the largest distribution centers for illegal toys and sanitary and hygiene products in the community of Madrid. A total of 1,352,785 counterfeit toys and 2,727,946 units of medical devices have been seized, among other things. Twelve people have been arrested and another eight are being investigated for their alleged involvement in the events.

The operation was carried out in view of the proximity of the Christmas holidays, when the consumption of toys and other products increases considerably. During the first phase, the Municipal Police of Madrid carried out several inspections and identified various products that were being sold in stores, thus committing various crimes against the consumer market and against industrial property rights.

Following this information, the facts were brought to the attention of the National Police and, together with the Tax Agency and the Local Police, the appropriate proceedings were started in order to identify the distributors, suppliers and the origin of the products that were allegedly the object of the crimes.

In the second phase, and after carrying out numerous coordinated surveillance operations between the acting bodies, the members of the criminal group were fully identified, which had its nerve centre and distribution and manufacturing centre in a warehouse located in the town of Pinto.

Toys that arrived divided into parts as a safety measure

The strategy followed by the group responded to an organizational structure known as a 'spider web'. In this way, they bought the products in China and, once introduced into the Spanish market by different means, in a fractionated manner and in pieces, they were assembled mainly in the Pinto warehouse to subsequently redistribute them to different points of sale in the Cobo Calleja Industrial Estate. These, in turn, acted as suppliers of those same products to other sellers in different parts of the rest of the country.

The objects arrived in Spain disassembled into different blocks and were assembled in the Cobo Calleja and Pinto warehouses. Different parts of the toys arrived in different shipments, on different days, and sometimes using different ports and airports of entry. This dismemberment is in itself a security measure intended to make it more difficult for European customs to detect infringing products.

In the establishment open to the public, merchants had, depending on the final volume handled, the exact quantity to meet daily demand. In the event of not having the necessary stock, or in the case of a large order, they had a transport and collection team that travelled to the storage warehouses to obtain the necessary product.

Before the product reached the various redistributors, the group carried out various preliminary tasks in several warehouses. In this way, a warehouse was located where there was a trailer performing unloading tasks, another storage warehouse with the products ready for distribution and another warehouse where the final product was manufactured by assembling the different parts that had been received from it.

Most of the products were stored in these warehouses, which were closed to the public. One of them was the main production centre and, in addition to hundreds of thousands of toys and masks being stored, there were various workers in charge of the custody, assembly and storage of the products.

Large volume of products due to the proximity of Christmas

The huge volume that these merchants planned to manage in these days prior to the Christmas campaign demonstrates the extraordinary profitability that can be obtained from the sale of these products. The variety and quantity of the products seized, a total of 1,352,785 counterfeit toys, makes it impossible to establish, at this time, an exact amount of the profits that would have been obtained, with investigators estimating that, on the low side, the average profit per toy is around five euros. This would mean a total of more than 6,810,000 euros. Similarly, the average profit per medical product is around one euro, which would result in a total profit of 2,727,946 euros.

Twelve people have been arrested during this operation, while another eight are being investigated for their alleged involvement in the events. In addition to toys and medical supplies, 19,300 euros in cash were seized. 

During the exploitation phase of the operation, inspectors from the Department of Consumption and Quality of the Community of Madrid participated in order to identify and certify the different dysfunctions and health risks that existed in the different products located. 

Operation filming (to download the video, enter the following web address):

 https://we.tl/t-wp6g2GA3tk