The Local Police of Alicante has intervened this summer more than 50,000 counterfeit products whose estimated value exceeds two million euros in different operations against illegal street vending and the so-called top manta. The operations carried out during July and August have also resulted in 13 people arrested for alleged crimes against industrial property.
The actions have been carried out in collaboration with the Port Police and have mainly focused on the points of highest tourist influx in the city, where during the summer months the presence of street vendors increases considerably.
Among the seized items are t-shirts and other clothing items, bags, jewelry, and mobile phone cases that imitated products from well-known brands. The Local Police maintains this type of control throughout the year, although the operation is reinforced during the tourist season due to the increase in visitors and irregular commercial activity.
The coastline and the Port, among the areas with the most controls
A good part of the operations have taken place on the coastal front of Alicante, the promenade, and the square of the Port, areas especially crowded during July and August.
One of the most important interventions took place on August 30 in the square of the Port, where agents removed more than 3,000 counterfeit items. The products were located both in street vending stalls and in authorized establishments, which demonstrates that the marketing of imitations is not limited exclusively to the top manta.
The agents are investigating these behaviors as possible crimes against industrial property, a figure that protects the rights of brands against the unauthorized manufacture, distribution, or marketing of products that use their distinctive signs.
More than two million euros in merchandise
The accumulated balance during the two months raises to more than 50,000 the counterfeits removed from the market, with an estimated value exceeding two million euros.
The objective of the operations, according to the City Council, is not limited to combating illegal sales on public roads. The authorities maintain that this type of trade also represents unfair competition for establishments that carry out their activity legally and a detriment to the companies that own the counterfeit brands.
The Councilor for Security, Julio Calero, has defended the reinforcement of these operations during the summer and has pointed out that counterfeiting is one of the phenomena that the Local Police maintains permanent surveillance over, although the pressure increases during the months of greater tourist activity.
587 complaints for alcohol consumption in the street
The police balance of the summer also includes another of the special devices deployed by Alicante during July and August. In that period, 587 reports of complaints for alcohol consumption in public spaces have been processed.
The City Council links this reinforcement to the increase in gatherings and consumption in public spaces during the summer months and argues that the operations seek to reduce disturbances to neighbors and prevent coexistence problems.
With the end of August, the balance leaves thus more than 50,000 counterfeit items removed, 13 arrested, and merchandise valued at more than two million euros, the result of a campaign that has concentrated a good part of its efforts in the tourist and commercial areas of the Alicante coast.