ASAE’s Criminal Investigation Unit has intercepted a loaded and ready-to-go goods vehicle bound for Paris with about 2,000 items of counterfeit clothing on board, valued at €70,000.
The fake garments had come from a Portuguese textile factory and had been carefully concealed in the middle of the HGV’s innocent looking, legitimate cargo to try and trick any en route inspections.
The Food and Goods Inspectorate’s find happened during a general action to combat counterfeiting and the sale and distribution of counterfeit goods in the Barcelos, Guimarães and Vila Nova de Famalicão areas.
Inside a textile loading area, next to where the truck was inspected, there were 550 additional articles of counterfeit clothing and footwear and 229 packs of tobacco without tax stamps.
In the operation, specifically targeted at textile and footwear factories, five printing factories were inspected where copy logos and original looking packaging were seized.
As a result of this action, four criminal proceedings were instituted for counterfeiting, two fines for polluting the ground with industrial effluent and for tax offences related to the tobacco.
