2023-05-15 22:14:57
DISPATCH — On Wednesday May 10, the judicial police got their hands on 260,000 counterfeit items in Seine-Saint-Denis: 228,000 shoes and 32,000 pieces of textiles. In total, some eight million euros in value. A case that began in February 2022, which highlights the extent of counterfeiting in Europe.
Last year, three men were arrested at the exit of the Villeneuve-la-Garenne pound. They were transporting over 4,000 counterfeit items in a van. The justice then seized the case to try to find the supplier. Fifteen months later, the investigations carried out by the investigators of the judicial police made it possible to discover 700 m³ of goods in three different warehouses. Not surprisingly, counterfeits are pale copies of luxury brands, made in China.
“These are industrial quantities”, describes a police source to AFP. And to add: “The resale value of the goods on the counterfeit market is estimated at at least eight million euros”. The copied brands were consulted in order to more accurately assess the value of the stock.
For this find, seven people were arrested by the investigators of the OCRFM (Central office for the repression of counterfeiting). They were immediately put on trial.
Counterfeiting “represents 6% of overall imports into the EU. It is an old phenomenon, but growing, which is taking on an industrial dimension”, underlines a commissioner, as reported by 20minutes. France would be the second country the most affected in the world, behind the United States and ahead of Italy.
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