The Public Security Police have arrested seven people selling fake goods in Portimão and seized over 600 articles of clothing and accessories.
The PSP said that those arrested, aged in their 20s, could not provide documentation showing where the goods had been bought from.
Two of the detainees were found to be in the country illegally and will be ejected.
The operation involved 56 PSP officers, eight Maritime Police officers and three inspectors from the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF).
The authorities have been patrolling Praia da Rocha in Portimão to clean up the sale of fake and counterfeit goods which are available in most street markets across the region.
On August 3rd the Tax Authority and the Maritime Police announced a summertime cooperation to clamp down on illegal, beach-related tax evasion in the Algarve.
The “pé na areia” (foot in the sand) operation aims to ‘monitor summer activities,’ to deter those operating in and near the region’s beaches without the necessary paperwork, and "to control activity by operators and their compliance with invoicing obligations."
The Algarve is awash with fake goods and the authorities know who is selling it and from where. This sort of operation is a good start in weeding out those who make fortunes by reproducing brand name goods using inferior quality materials.
In January this year, a joint operation between Spanish police and Portugal’s ASAE simultaneous raided and dismantled an efficient counterfeit clothing manufacturing and distribution network in the north of Portugal, owned and run by a Moroccan.
About 38,000 counterfeit items, including clothing, footwear, labels, etc., as well as six machines and close to €217,00 in cash were seized and 27 people arrested, 21 in Spain and six in Portugal.
The criminal network, according to the Spanish authorities, has earned more than €3 million for the owners who had been selling products made in several 'sweatshops' in Portugal.
