The Sub-Directorate for the Suppression of Economic Crimes of the Directorate for the Suppression of Organized Crime dismantled a criminal organization active in the manufacture, sale and distribution of fake products in various regions of Greece.

In order to stop their action, a large-scale police operation was carried out in the morning hours of Thursday, February 13, 2025, with the assistance of the Operational Teams of the D.A.O.E. and the Sub-Directorate for Combating Organized Crime of Northern Greece, O.P.K.E, Y.A.T., policemen of the Police Directorate of Achaia, the Department for the Prosecution and Investigation of Crimes of Kato Achaia and a team of the E.O.F., in areas of Attica, Thessaloniki, Thebes, Kato Achaia and Patras.

During the operation, a total of 12 searches were carried out at homes, 6 at storage facilities, 3 at courier companies, 2 at shops selling goods, 1 at a container, and 1 at a car, while a total of 22 people – members of the criminal organisation
were identified and arrested.

The case file formed for – on occasion – criminal organization, plastography and fraud by association and violation of the laws on trademarks and unfair competition, illegal money laundering, and the law on weapons, includes another -5- persons.

This was preceded by a complaint regarding the trafficking of counterfeit goods through websites, the investigation of which certified their criminal activity, which is dated at least from November of the year 2022.

In particular, in the context of the investigation carried out, it emerged that this was a group with continuous action and defined roles, which had developed a network of associates who aimed to obtain illegal property benefits from the trafficking of counterfeit branded products (both perfumes and cosmetics and sunglasses, watches, accessories and clothing) via the Internet and specifically through websites that they managed.

As to their modus operandi, it was discovered that the members of the organisation were engaged in the manufacture and standardisation of counterfeit perfumes, cosmetics and clothing, pasting on them the imprints of branded fashion houses, which were produced by other members of the organisation.

Subsequently, through -16- websites, they advertised their products at very low prices, under the pretext of a discount on the original prices of the corresponding genuine products, to lure and deceive the consumer.

The products were shipped through courier companies which employed employees who guided other members, providing information and directions, thus facilitating the completion of their purpose.

Finally, to legalize their income, they had set up “dummy” companies, through which they moved their illegal income, while at the same time, to give them legitimacy, they employed workers who were not actually in charge.

As it turned out, through the websites they carried out -41,838 shipments of goods, the total value of which, according to the analysis of bank data, exceeds the amount of -1,670,000 euros.

In total, during the searches carried out, the following were found and seized:

-6- heat transfer presses for applying impressions,
-approximately 45,000 pieces of unbranded clothing (No Name) suitable for affixing impressions of branded fashion brands,
-approximately 1,500 pieces of imitation clothing of brand-name companies,
-2- thermal label printers,
-3- sealing machines,
several bank cards,
documents with handwritten perfume notes of brand names,
several stickers with barcodes of perfume brands,
several branded fragrance tapes,
-14- packaged courier company packages containing counterfeit clothing and cosmetics,
-20- plastic bottles containing perfume liquid as a base for the preparation of perfumes, on which labels of brand names were affixed,
-EUR 16 050-,
several perfume labels of brand names,
a shotgun,
car,
-33- mobile phones,
-11- computers and -2- laptops,
-5- external hard drives,
-9,869- packages of counterfeit perfumes of brand names,
-31,000- approximately 31,000- counterfeit wristwatches of various brands,
-6,752- packages of counterfeit cosmetics of various brand names,
four hundred certification books of a high-end watchmaking company,
-13,709- pairs of counterfeit sunglasses of branded companies,
-876- imitation underwear of brand name brands,
-123- counterfeit brand name bracelets,
numerous stamps of various brands and
one thousand five hundred nylon empty packages of the courier company.

Finally, the total financial damage caused to the branded goods companies is estimated to exceed the sum of -9,000,000- euros.

The arrested persons were taken to the competent prosecuting authority.