Joint operation between the Tax Agency, the National Police and OLAF

• Seven people were arrested and eight people were searched at the facilities and homes of the organisation, which imported the product from China for distribution in Spain and Italy.
• The network gave its purchases the appearance of legitimate commercial operations and sold the merchandise through proxy companies to regular wholesalers of genuine products.

August 12, 2024.- The Tax Agency, in a joint operation with the National Police and the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), has seized in Alicante and Murcia more than 260,000 counterfeit razor blades of a well-known brand that were going to be introduced into the commercial circuit. As part of this operation, seven people of Spanish and Italian nationality have been arrested and eight searches have been carried out in the facilities and homes of the organisation responsible in Spain and Italy, countries where the criminal network distributed the merchandise through regular wholesalers of the genuine products that it had previously acquired in China.

The seized products have a market value of over one million euros and were destined for legal supply chains, which the organisation concealed through a structure of intermediary companies that were acquiring counterfeit products.

The investigation was launched by the Customs Surveillance Service (SVA) of the Tax Agency in Alicante based on information received by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) on a shipment of razor blades of a well-known brand from China that could be counterfeit, destined for warehouses located in Spain and Italy.

The actions carried out by Alicante Customs Surveillance made it possible to establish the modus operandi and storage locations of the criminal organisation for the distribution of counterfeit razor blades throughout the national territory.

Subsequently, this investigation by the SVA in Alicante merged with another opened by the Central UDEV of the National Police following a complaint filed with the Police by the owners of the registered trademark regarding this same organisation. From that moment on, OLAF, Customs Surveillance, National Police and the Italian Guardia di Finanza coordinated to jointly carry out the investigation.

Entries and registrations in Spain and Italy

The preliminary operations culminated on July 2 with five raids and searches in companies, storage facilities and private homes in Alicante, Murcia and Barcelona, as well as three commercial premises and companies based in different locations in Italy. A total of 266,656 razor blades (66,664 packs of four blades each) were seized in three warehouses in Alicante and Murcia, and have now been certified by the brand as counterfeit products. A high-end vehicle registered in the name of one of the companies involved in the criminal network was also seized.

In the context of these searches, seven people were arrested as responsible for these illegal activities – six of Spanish nationality and one Italian – in Alicante (4), Murcia (2) and Barcelona (1), for alleged crimes against industrial property, money laundering and membership of a criminal organization.

Subsequently, on July 12, once the first actions had been completed, the arrival in Alicante of a new shipment of counterfeit razor blades was detected, which was also seized and brought to court. This time, the shipment involved 14,400 razor blades (4,800 packs of three blades each) and, in addition, on this occasion, the shipment included 3,960 replacement toothbrush units, which, in both cases, were identified by the owners of the respective brands as counterfeit goods.

 The total number of counterfeit goods seized in Spain is as follows:

• 056 razor blades
• 960 toothbrush refills

 On the other hand, the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) has announced that, within this same investigation, in other countries of the European Union (Germany, Holland, Greece and Italy), a total of 644,240 counterfeit razor blades have also been seized.

In relation to OLAF, the investigation was launched after receiving intelligence about an organisation dedicated to the introduction of counterfeit blades into the EU from China. OLAF has monitored the suspicious shipments, identified the recipient companies at EU level, communicated the information obtained to the countries involved and also coordinated the investigations carried out in relation to this case.

Structure of interposed companies

Purchases were made directly from the Chinese supplier company using electronic means. The agreed price for the sale was sent by bank SWIFT from Spain or Italy to China, giving the appearance of a regular commercial transaction.

The goods were shipped by the Chinese exporter declaring as destination warehouses (storage rooms) rented by the main person responsible for the illegal activity, using intermediary companies as recipients.

Once received at the warehouses, the counterfeit goods were sent to wholesale companies of this type of products located in Spain and Italy. The wholesalers, in turn, sold the goods to regular customers of the genuine products, who were unaware that they were counterfeit.

In this way, the merchandise reached the final consumer, who purchased it in stores without realizing that they were counterfeit products, since their external appearance was identical to that of the genuine product of this brand sold in the regular market.

Consumer risk and unfair competition

The illicit activity of criminal organisations such as that investigated in this operation harms the EU's internal market, both at the level of legal manufacturers who own genuine brands, due to unfair competition and the loss of turnover that the distribution of counterfeit products of their brands entails, and also at the level of consumers, who pay prices that do not correspond to the real quality of the products because they are counterfeit.

The present proceedings have been taken over by the 6th Court of Instruction of Alicante. Investigations are ongoing and further arrests are not ruled out internationally.