00:04Nowadays it's very easy for the climate organisation to reach the consumers,
00:09to convince them to buy in products that are often unsafe.
00:19These are not little Robin Hoods.
00:21It's really organised crime operating in a smart way.
00:34Tens of thousands of shipping containers from around the world enter Europe every day.
00:40At the port of Alicante, MARTA from the EU's anti-fraud office, OLAF,
00:44and Spanish Customs are inspecting two containers after finding discrepancies with the paperwork.
00:50The seal was not matching with the documentation,
00:53and now what we are checking is that all the goods match with the goods declared.
00:58Then the first thing we need to do is to open the box and to see which kind of goods
01:03we have inside.
01:12One of the major challenges for MARTA and the team is choosing which shipments to target.
01:17Every decision is a balance between trying to intercept illicit goods and keeping legitimate trade flowing.
01:25This job is very difficult because you have millions of containers all over Europe,
01:30and most of them they are legal goods that the citizens they need.
01:33Your inspection should be in a way that you don't create trouble, in fact, to the legal supply chain.
01:46The illicit trade today is a well-organized economic system.
01:51It's a well-organized business model that abuses modern transport systems, container ships, small parcels.
01:59So it's a well-designed business model that has also one big important element – disrespect for law,
02:08disrespect for norms, regulations and safety.
02:12Criminal networks have learned to exploit existing supply chains that they create.
02:19They create them on purpose to move all kinds of goods.
02:22Once the logistical chain is there, the criminal networks can use them to move whatever they want to wherever they
02:28want.
02:34The illicit trade in Europe is no longer a niche criminal activity,
02:39but it's a very serious crime because it's embedded in any business model of the criminal organization.
02:47They work at the international level, they recruit internationally,
02:51they use the logistics and the legitimate businesses in order to perform the illicit trade.
02:56So it's a very serious crime nowadays, it's very organized.
03:00One of the trends we are seeing now, for example with counterfeit goods,
03:05is that the best way of hiding goods is in fact not hiding them.
03:08They do that because then everything is okay in the paper, in the container,
03:13and this is the best way for the smugglers to infiltrate the legal supply chain.
03:23Behind illicit trade transactions, you have very powerful and sometimes dangerous organized criminal groups
03:30that traffic in counterfeit goods, in illicit medicines, in tobacco, in alcohol, in pesticides,
03:37in luxury goods, in everything you can imagine.
03:40And the more these criminal organizations become powerful,
03:43the more they are in a position to infiltrate economies and society.
03:4920 years ago, maybe 30 years ago, when you looked at data on counterfeiting,
03:55you were finding mostly luxury goods.
03:57But today we see that image is different.
04:01Counterfeiting becomes more, how should I say, democratic.
04:05Everything protected from the trademark becomes a target for counterfeiters.
04:10For a few years, the counterfeit has changed its nature.
04:13It has been globalized, industrialized.
04:16And since it was only about luxury products, there are a lot of products,
04:22which are our daily products, which are copied.
04:25What we are seeing is a high level of professionalization,
04:28and these counterfeit goods end up in the normal supermarkets.
04:33And then citizens like you, like me,
04:35can buy something that is counterfeit without knowing.
04:37From fake footwear and fashion to tobacco and electronics,
04:42counterfeiting now affects almost every sector of the global economy.
04:52Many of these illicit products can be dangerous to human health and safety.
04:57One notable example is the rise in fake car parts.
05:21To combat counterfeiting, car makers like Stellantis have introduced secure labeling to help buyers distinguish authentic parts from the fakes.
05:31But the threat remains.
05:33The counterfeiting pieces are really dangerous.
05:37In fact, they are not designed or tested according to the charge card of the manufacturer,
05:43which will integrate quality criteria, durability, reliability and security.
05:50If you want to ensure the security of your vehicle,
05:54privilege authentic parts.
06:01The citizens should be aware that whenever they buy something that is coming from illicit trade,
06:07actually they are financing the criminal organizations.
06:10So drug trafficking, human trafficking, money laundering, corruption.
06:14Globally, we estimate that illicit rape and counterfeits amounts to $460 billion a year.
06:22This is order of magnitude of GDP of countries.
06:25We have money that is big, easy, relatively safe.
06:29It's a big business for criminals.
06:32European governments are losing an incredible amount of money and resources
06:38out of counterfeiting and other types of illicit trade.
06:42In theory, this money could be utilized for the provision of social services,
06:47for educational purposes, for hospitals.
06:50When you're purchasing something that you really wanted and you're buying it for cheap,
06:55there is a reason why you're buying it cheaper.
06:57And the reason is that somebody hasn't paid taxes,
07:00hasn't respect standards,
07:02is using substances that shouldn't be there.
07:04Acheter une contrefaçon n'est jamais une bonne affaire
07:07et c'est, dans la plupart des cas, dangereux.
07:10Il faut savoir que les contrefaçons ne respectent aucune norme de sécurité,
07:14ne sont pas testés
07:15et, en général, sont fabriqués avec des produits de très mauvaise qualité.
07:20These are really bad guys.
07:22You want to finance them? Are you sure?
07:24Buying counterfeits means that you really erode the system.
07:28Your friends might lose jobs,
07:30your kids might suffer from poor education because of no tax revenues.
07:33Those are all the aspects that you should consider when you say,
07:36hey, that's a good bargain, I should go for it.
07:57You have designed for free.
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