Joint operation of the Tax Agency and the National Police

• 39 people arrested in Madrid (14), Seville (4), Girona (15), Malaga (3) and Tenerife (3), with 13 simultaneous home searches and 22 inspections in warehouses and establishments open to the public in different parts of the country. Spanish

• The framework had a pyramidal structure composed of the leaders, with management and control functions, the relevant salespeople or 'mailboxes', the head of distribution (at an intermediate level between the previous two) and, at the last step, the salespeople. base or manteros

• The organization constantly modified its 'modus operandi', as well as the payment methods and the entry routes for the merchandise and distribution of the goods, in order to avoid being detected.

July 26, 2023.- Customs Surveillance Officials of the Tax Agency, in a joint operation with agents of the National Police, have dismantled a criminal organization dedicated to the import and sale of products counterfeited and almost 250,000 items have been seized. The agents have arrested 39 people in Madrid (14), Seville (4), Girona (15), Malaga (3) and Tenerife (3), and have carried out 13 simultaneous home searches and 22 inspections in warehouses and establishments open to the public in different parts of the Spanish geography. The organization constantly modified its 'modus operandi', as well as the payment methods and the entry routes for the merchandise and distribution of the goods, in order to avoid being detected.

The investigation began when the agents became aware of the existence of a hierarchical criminal organization, made up of Senegalese citizens, based in our country and perfectly structured. This organization was allegedly dedicated to the import and sale of counterfeit products, and masked the illegal origin of the profits in order to integrate them into the legal economic and financial systems of both Spain and third countries.

Counterfeits were sometimes carried out through the creation or importation of the product itself – clothing, footwear, jewelry, or leather goods. On other occasions they consisted of the union of the article itself with the distinctive and unmistakable label, sticker or screen printing of certain brands, thus violating the industrial property rights of the registered trademarks.

Pyramidal structure, dynamic and with distribution of executive tasks

As the investigations progressed, the agents confirmed that those investigated had been operating since at least 2016. On the other hand, they showed that the organization had a dynamic, pyramidal structure – adapted to the circumstances of the moment – and with a clear and concrete distribution of executive tasks among its members.

At the top of the network was a woman who performed leadership and management functions. This company traveled, together with third parties, continuously and repeatedly to the supplier countries to import the counterfeit products and, in turn, was responsible for receiving most of the economic benefits.

Once the items were introduced into our country, they were distributed throughout Spain, using logistics points or parcel companies for their distribution. This task was carried out by members of the organization called relevant sellers or 'mailboxes'. On the other hand, between these and the previous ones – at an intermediate level – was the head of distribution, to whom the leaders would give instructions to distribute among the relevant sellers.

Finally – at the last rung of the criminal network – were the base sellers, that is, the final recipients of the counterfeit items. Most of them were African citizens in an irregular situation, with few economic resources, and they were dedicated to directly marketing products through the so-called 'top manta'. These people were also in charge of collecting part of the profit obtained to deliver it to third parties who, in turn, accumulated money from various sources to forward it to higher levels of the organization.

Methods used to remit money to the leaders of the network and ways to launder illicit profits

One of the methods used was to make bank transfers or deposit the money directly into the accounts. They did this from multiple points of the Spanish geography, and it was reintegrated into the towns where the leaders of the organization resided. The other way used was through shipments from parcel companies or postal correspondence, (weighing less than a kilo) to the homes of the heads of the criminal network.

On the other hand, the methods used to launder the illicit profits obtained – which entailed introducing the money back into the legal monetary flow – were mainly two: creating businesses with a legal appearance, such as restaurants, and sending money to their country of origin (Senegal) through mules or by parcel delivery.

Dynamism of the 'modus operandi' to evade police action

In order to take extreme security measures, the organization modified its 'modus operandi' on a regular basis. The entry routes for counterfeit merchandise changed (if previously it entered the European Union through the United Kingdom, currently the route followed was China-Germany-Spain) as well as the forms of payment and distribution of the goods. This dynamism, in addition to making police action difficult, denotes great sophistication of the criminal network.

The operation has focused on those members who occupy the highest or intermediate levels of the organization. In this sense, the agents detected that the economic capacity of those investigated did not correspond either to their declared income or to their work life reports, since practically none of them received payroll income and in the rest of the cases these incomes were not proportional to the inflows of money that were recorded in their accounts.

39 detainees, 13 searches and 22 inspections in the provinces of Madrid, Seville, Girona, Málaga and Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Finally, the agents have arrested 39 people for the commission of the alleged crimes of criminal organization, against industrial property, money laundering, smuggling and violation of the Immigration Law; 14 of the arrests have occurred in Madrid, 4 in Seville, 15 in the Girona municipality of Lloret de Mar, 3 in Malaga (one of them in Marbella) and 3 in Tenerife.

In addition, the agents have carried out 13 searches at the homes of the organization's bosses and relevant distributors, as well as 22 inspections in warehouses and establishments open to the public. In Madrid, specifically, they have carried out 6 searches and 7 inspections in the Carabanchel and Lavapiés areas. The searches (3) and inspections (10) carried out in the province of Gerona have been carried out in Lloret de Mar. On the other hand, in Seville, 2 home searches and 2 inspections have been carried out; in Malaga one registration and two inspections; and, finally, a search in the Tenerife municipality of Arona and an inspection in an establishment that was the nerve center of the organization on the island.

As a result of the searches carried out, the agents have seized 242,501 items – among which are football kits, luxury bags, footwear and jewelry – that would violate the industrial property rights of renowned brands, as well as various accessories to adhere to white products and stickers to print on clothing. On the other hand, they have also seized 86,255 euros in cash, numerous electronic devices (mobile phones, tablets and laptops) and a large amount of documentation related to the events investigated.