The Three Wise Men do not give imitations. However, Christmas is the time of year when the most counterfeits are bought and when police officers have the most work. National Police who investigate these types of crimes. Copies barely detected by the … untrained eye. T-shirts Mbappé and Lamine Yamal They are the most sought after in the world of football; As for accessories, it is the Michael Korps and Marc Jacobs bags that set the tone, according to police sources explaining to ABC.
Experts in the search for counterfeiters are agents of the Intellectual and Industrial Property Crimes Section of the General Commissariat of the Judicial Police (CGPJ). Its results in 2025 are devastating. They seized 257,277 products, or more than 50 tonnes of clothing valued at 10 million euros in retail sales, according to these same sources.
This amount is on the black market. Brands lose around 30 million euros per year due to counterfeits. The National Police closes this year’s report with 90 detainees and eight major operations who dismantled authentic criminal organizations specializing in this business.
One of the great lies of the forgers’ myth is to point to the main immigrant mantas as the origin of evil. They are the last and weakest link in a chain that makes millions through trickery and contacts. Some of them are even victims of trafficking by these criminal organizations.
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One of the latest operations by the National Police against counterfeiting
All these gangs have one common denominator: there are no factories producing counterfeit products in Spain. Everything comes from China and Turkey. However, in recent times these irons have been detected in Portugal. The key to this entire trade chain lies in the large importers who rely on the capabilities of the East.
Direct contact
National police suspect there’s a trick to China’s near-perfect imitations. Their designers have direct contact with the people who make real football jerseys and luxury brand bags. They have this hypothesis and an even worse one: fake factories share space with official factories. To clarify this mystery, police officers have visited the country several times to collaborate with local authorities and end this problem at the root. This is the origin of imitations.
Importers buy these products originally and bring them to Spain after transiting through another European country. They generally cross Netherlands and Germany. Then they are transported by road to our country using logistics companies. They sometimes have a mixed activity. Some run outside the law.
The counterfeiting trade begins in China where there are factories parallel to the official factories where products almost similar to the originals are manufactured.
There are counterfeiters who generate millions of euros per year and live in luxury but continue to wear the imitations they bring from third countries.
The National Police calculate that these products generate damage to brands of around thirty million euros per year due to this illegal market.
The counterfeits arrive in Spain in unsuspected boxes weighing around 20 or 25 kilos. When they enter the national territory, they are already the subject of an investigation by the National Police, who intercept a large number of them. “We captured a lot of material, but in the end, a lot of material also got in,” these sources explain.
Depending on the time of year, the leaders of the fake brands look for this or that audience. In summer, football jerseys are popular. There are two players who stand out from the rest, almost like in reality: Mbappé and Lamine Yamal.
The list of products most requested by customers is the same as the list of items most purchased on those dates. Michael Kors or Marc Jacobs They are the most sought after on this illegal parallel market which often has its stores in the apartments of managers.
THE Jordan sneakers and all the Gucci elements They also appear each year among the materials most seized by agents of the National Police. The imitations that they capture in their interventions are of very good quality. THE expert reports that these specialists prepare must be detailed to carry out their operations successfully.
Counterfeiters with imitations
The experts of Section for crimes against intellectual property and industrialists have trained their eyes, thanks to their experiences, and are capable of recognizing imitations. The profile of these criminals is varied. Diverse nationalities and varied lifestyles.
Some of the leaders of these criminal organizations earn a lot of money and own millions of euros. They happen to dress in their own imitations. A case contrary to Chinese counterfeiters who prefer to spend money to buy luxury products.
This parallel market reaches one of its main moments with the arrival of Christmas. The agents realize that with the Three Wise Men, these organizations “arm themselves” with material to make gold. This collection of products also performs at important sporting events such as the football world cup next summer.
These crimes carry a maximum sentence of four years in prison. They increase much more if other parallels such as criminal organization or money laundering. Circumstances which do not stop the criminal will of these counterfeiters who have a common characteristic: they all tend to commit crimes again.
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