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 house searches and 22 inspections in warehouses and establishments open to the public in different parts of Spain

• The network had a pyramidal structure composed of leaders, with management and control functions, the relevant sellers or 'mailboxes', the distribution manager (at an intermediate level between the two previous ones) and, at the last level, the base sellers or street vendors.

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

July 26, 2023.- Customs Surveillance officials from the Tax Agency, in a joint operation with agents from the National Police, have dismantled a criminal organization dedicated to the import and sale of counterfeit products and have seized almost 250,000 items. Agents have arrested 39 people in Madrid (14), Seville (4), Girona (15), Malaga (3) and Tenerife (3), and have carried out 13 simultaneous house searches and 22 inspections in warehouses and establishments open to the public in different parts of Spain. The organization constantly modified its modus operandi, as well as the methods of payment and the routes of entry of 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 highly organized criminal organization, made up of Senegalese citizens, based in our country and perfectly structured. The organisation was allegedly involved in the import and sale of counterfeit products, and concealed the illegal origin of the profits in order to integrate them into the legal economic and financial systems of both Spain and third countries.

Counterfeiting was sometimes carried out through the creation or importation of the product itself – clothing, footwear, jewellery or leather goods. In other cases, they consisted of joining the article itself with the distinctive and unmistakable label, sticker or silkscreen of certain brands, thus violating the industrial property rights of the registered trademarks.

Pyramidal structure, dynamic and with distribution of executive tasks

As the investigation progressed, the agents confirmed that the suspects had been operating since at least 2016. Furthermore, they showed that the organization had a pyramidal, dynamic 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 exercised leadership and management functions. This company, together with third parties, travelled continuously and repeatedly to supplier countries to import counterfeit products and, in turn, was responsible for receiving the majority 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 performed 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 distribution manager, to whom the leaders would give instructions to make the distribution among the relevant sellers.

Finally – at the lowest level 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 limited economic resources, and they were dedicated to directly marketing the products through the so-called 'top manta' (street vendors). These people were also responsible for collecting part of the profits obtained to give them to third parties who, in turn, accumulated money from various sources to send it to the higher levels of the organization.

Methods used to transfer 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 money directly into the accounts. They did this from multiple points across Spain, and returned to the towns where the leaders of the organization resided. The other method used was through parcel or postal mail deliveries (weighing less than one 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 involved introducing the money back into the legal monetary flow – were mainly two: the creation of businesses with a legal appearance, such as restaurants, and the sending of money to their country of origin (Senegal) through mules or by parcel delivery.

Dynamics of the modus operandi to avoid police action

In order to take extreme security measures, the organization regularly modified its modus operandi. The routes of entry for counterfeit goods have changed (previously they entered the European Union via the United Kingdom, but now the route followed is China-Germany-Spain) as well as the methods of payment and distribution of the goods. This dynamic, in addition to making police action difficult, denotes the great sophistication of the criminal network.

The operation has focused on those members who occupy the upper or middle levels of the organization. In this regard, the agents detected that the economic capacity of those investigated did not correspond to their declared income or their work history reports, since practically none of them received income from payroll and in the rest of the cases this income was not proportional to the money inflows recorded in their accounts.

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

Finally, the agents have arrested 39 people for the alleged commission of crimes of criminal organization, against industrial property, money laundering, smuggling and violation of the Immigration Law; 14 of the arrests have taken place 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, agents have carried out 13 searches at the homes of the organization's leaders 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 areas of Carabanchel and Lavapiés. The searches (3) and inspections (10) carried out in the province of Girona have been carried out in Lloret de Mar. On the other hand, in Seville, 2 house 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 of an establishment that was the nerve centre of the organisation on the island.

As a result of the searches carried out, the agents have seized 242,501 items – including football kits, luxury handbags, footwear and jewellery – that would infringe the industrial property rights of prestigious brands, as well as various supplies for sticking to white products and stickers for printing on clothing. They 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 under investigation.