The Guardia Civil has successfully dismantled a criminal organisation based in Elche, which was involved in the importation and distribution of counterfeit goods, primarily textile products. The operation led to the arrest of five individuals: three Chinese men aged sixty two, sixty one, and thirty six, a fifty two year old Ecuadorian man, and a fifty five year old Moroccan man. These individuals face charges of being part of a criminal group and violating intellectual property rights.

The investigation uncovered a well-organised structure, with various levels including importers and main and secondary distributors. The counterfeit items were shipped from abroad to two industrial warehouses in Elche, where slight modifications were made to bypass customs controls. Once in Spain, these modifications were easily reversed to restore the items to a form that closely resembled the original branded products.

The operation led to the seizure of a total of thirty five thousand nine hundred twenty eight counterfeit items, with an estimated economic loss of over seven hundred eighty thousand euros had they been sold as authentic. The police conducted thorough searches of the warehouses, accompanied by experts who confirmed the counterfeit nature of the goods on site.

The arrested individuals were presented to the instruction court number five in Elche, which has placed them under conditional release with precautionary measures. The operation highlights the ongoing efforts in combating counterfeit goods, particularly in tourist areas like Torrevieja, which are often targeted by street vendors engaged in illicit commerce.