The Local Police of Tías has carried out an anti-fraud operation in which it has intervened a commercial premises that has two attached warehouses. In this space, "thousands of counterfeit products" were accumulated, according to the City Council in a press release. The defrauded value could initially exceed six million euros in the market.
As a result of this police operation, five people were charged with an alleged crime against the industrial property of registered trademarks (counterfeiting), in addition to another crime against workers' rights. The actions carried out were made available to the judicial authority.
According to the Local Police Headquarters, the intervention and registration were carried out between November 14 and 18. After observing the proliferation in public roads of the street sale of objects that, due to their sale value, did not correspond to the brands displayed, their origin was investigated.
A commercial premises with two attached warehouses was inspected, where the accumulation of boxes with thousands of counterfeit products was verified. The device had the collaboration of a forensic expert from the National Anti-Piracy Commission and personnel from the Customs Surveillance Service of Lanzarote and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
Spain is the second European country, behind Bulgaria, in intentional consumption of counterfeits. According to the Intellectual Property Office of the European Union, this market causes Spain to lose 5.753 million euros and 44,697 direct jobs per year.
