PARIS, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Interpol-led worldwide operations helped confiscate tonnes of fake products worth 25 million U.S. dollars and arrest hundreds of suspects in four continents, the international police agency announced on Thursday.
"Coordinated by Interpol between March and May 2018 in 36 countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East and South America, operations sought to dismantle factories and supply chains behind a wide range of counterfeit goods and the organized crime networks directing them," the France-based agency said in a statement.
At raids at shops, markets, chemists, retail outlets, warehouses and border control points, police seized pharmaceuticals, food, vehicle parts, tobacco products, clothing, and agrochemicals. Global seizures include 7.2 million counterfeit and illicit items weighing more than 120 tonnes and 90,000 litres of liquids, it added.
The operations, involving officers from a range of law enforcement agencies, customs and health regulatory bodies, had led to the arrest of 645 suspects, while "further arrests and prosecutions are foreseen as ongoing investigations unfold," according to the Interpol.
"By attacking the distribution networks, and by disrupting production at the source, participating countries have contributed towards globally protecting people from potentially unsafe goods, and made them safer by dismantling illegal networks which are often connected to other forms of serious crime," said Tim Morris, Interpol's Executive Director of Police Services.
"The sheer volume of seizures and follow-up investigations generated by these simultaneous global operations are testimony to the fundamental role of Interpol in shaping a coordinated response in regional and international operations: it is all about collaboration," he added.
