Agents of the Civil Guard of the Main Post of Tías arrested last Tuesday the Chinese citizen J.C., 39 years old, for an alleged Crime Against Industrial Property after illegally trading with counterfeits.
A spokesman for the Armed Institute in Las Palmas reported that the constant transit of people of sub-Saharan and Maghrebi origin in the basements of the Shopping Center "Puerto Cinco" located in Puerto del Carmen, raised the suspicions of the Civil Guard. These suspicions motivated the registration and inspection of the warehouse, once the Judicial Authority so estimated.
This warehouse had the windows covered with plastic to prevent appreciating from the outside the effects that were hidden inside it. The agents discovered a large number of boxes containing a multitude of counterfeit textile and industrial items.
In total, according to the Civil Guard, 6,454 pirated articles were seized, being exact replicas with designs and logos registered by brands of considerable commercial value, such as Tous, Prada, Gucci, Burberry, Louis Vuitton, Calvin Klein, etc.
Among this merchandise were 1,450 caps, 1,345 pairs of socks, 980 t-shirts, 860 bags, 463 wallets, 415 belts, 366 anagrams, 330 games, 75 pants, 72 suitcases, 60 fanny packs, etc.
These articles, once sold to the public, based on the price of the originals, would have provided an economic benefit estimated at 642,486 euros, -amount in which the losses that the companies owning these original brands would suffer with merchandise are estimated- according to the official appraisal carried out by a tax expert attached to the Anti-Piracy Commission of the Ministry of Culture.
The Civil Guard suspects that this merchandise, manufactured in the Asian continent and illegally introduced into Spain by sea, was prepared to be distributed among African retailers, who would be responsible for its subsequent sale in different markets that are organized on the island of Lanzarote, such as Teguise or Playa Blanca. Even some of the boxes had not even been opened yet, so the agents believe that the merchandise had just been received.
The detainee and the proceedings instructed were immediately made available to the Judicial Authority -the judge requested that a sample of each of the articles be arranged for him-, while the merchandise was sealed, together with the warehouse, and deposited pending its destruction.
The Armed Institute reported yesterday that the Chinese national, who apparently had the warehouse on a rental basis, has been released, since, as the sources assured, in this type of tax crimes -since the detainee has no criminal record and is not considered dangerous- prison sentences are not usually imposed but heavy financial penalties.
