Guardia Civil Removes 150,000 Fake Toys from Sale

THE Guardia Civil has removed 150,000 fake or unsafe toys from sale in Spain.

Officers from the Guardia Civil said they removed the 150,000 toys from sale after finding they were fake or did not meet safety standards.

Police carried out 4,163 controls and inspections and found 40 criminal offences across Spain.

According to the Guardia Civil, the searches were carried out in warehouses, ports, airports and land customs precincts, finding more than 1,900 infractions, including for labelling or safety of toys and resulting in 41 people being investigated.

In a joint action with the Tax Agency, the Guardia Civil carried out 61 inspections in Vizcaya, managing to intervene more than 26,000 counterfeit toys and laser pointers, with the total value of the intervened objects exceeding €36,000.

Among the crimes attributed to those investigated were two crimes against industrial property and a total of 177 offences for immigration and taxation.

The Guardia Civil worked with the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (OEPM) and the Spanish Association of Toy Manufacturers (AEFJ) to investigate.

The police had been working with officers across Europe in an effort to crack down on fake toys.

The Guardia Civil said: “Thanks to the actions carried out in the 24 participating countries (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania , Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, United Kingdom and United States), during this first edition of the Ludus operation, nearly five million fake toys worth more than €16 million have been intervened.”