The National Customs Service of Chile managed to seize 536.291 units of counterfeit toys commercially valued at USD 2,6 million, within the framework of the Operation «Ludus III», led by the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation.
Under the coordination of the Illicit Traffic Control Department, the Customs of Iquique, Valparaíso, San Antonio, Metropolitan, Talcahuano and Punta Arenas worked in coordination with their national counterparts from November to December 2022, carrying out 139 procedures to remove counterfeit products from circulation that were considered a danger to citizens.
Among the more than half a million toys seized were inflatable dolls, stuffed animals, balls of different sizes and figures of various types.
El Deputy Director of Inspection, José Luis Castro, explained in this regard: “part of our work is to be able to dismantle and remove illicit merchandise from the market and having been part of this international operation is part of that. We were successful in all the cases we carried out and that is reflected in the figures we obtained and that was thanks to the tremendous work carried out by the Department of Illicit Trafficking in coordination with the other Customs of the country.”
“Being able to start the year like this, with these results, only reinforces that we are on the right track and that we continue to contribute to the security and protection of Chile's borders, which are part of our roles,” he added.
The Ludus III operation was supported by the World Customs Organization (WCO) and European Union Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), in addition to the cooperation of 10 WCO countries, which are not members of the European Union, such as Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Cameroon, Mexico, North Macedonia, Singapore, Thailand, Togo and Chile.
"To make the coordinated work more effective, the online platform WCO IPR CENcomm was used," said Chilean Customs.
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