– The agents seized 289 items of clothing that were on display to the public at a street stall in the weekly market in the Almería municipality of Vícar.
– The forgeries reproduced the signatures and logos of leading and well-known commercial brands. The perpetrator of the offences, who has a record of thefts, has been investigated for the commission of an offence against industrial property.
In a recent operation, the Guardia Civil of Almería investigated a 44-year-old man as the perpetrator of a crime against industrial property, having seized 289 counterfeit garments with the logos and signatures of registered trademarks. All the material was on display for sale to the public at a stall in the street market that is held every week in the town of Vícar (Almería).
This action is part of the investigations carried out by the Guardia Civil to prevent the manufacture, distribution and marketing of clothing, without the knowledge of the holders of industrial property rights registered under trademark legislation in the province of Almeria.
With this operation, the Guardia Civil has prevented the illegal introduction into the legal market of counterfeit garments of well-known registered textile brands, lacking the corresponding import documentation and the security and quality measures required in this respect.
In one of the controls that the agents carried out in this type of street markets, specifically in the town of Vicar, they found out that in a stall dedicated to the sale of textile garments, counterfeit clothes were being offered and sold to customers.
The agents set up a surveillance operation and found that numerous customers were buying, among other articles of commerce, the allegedly counterfeit stretch garments, which were displayed to the public in the displays along with other textile garments for sale.
When the Guardia Civil agents began checking and accrediting the goods, the garments did not comply with the legal requirements established for their circulation, possession and legal trade.
All the seized goods lacked product invoicing, lack of labelling, low quality in their manufacture and the absence of packaging or wrapping without the logo or registered trademark.
As a result of the action, the agents proceeded to seize 289 T-shirts of leading brands and charged the person responsible as an investigator for an offence against industrial property by allegedly selling counterfeit clothing with the logo of registered brands.
The proceedings, the confiscated goods and the perpetrator were placed at the disposal of the Court of Almeria. The investigation is still open in order to find out the origin of the seized goods and the possible involvement of other people in the facts.