TRIESTE – More than 315,000 counterfeit clothing items and accessories were seized at the Port of Trieste during a joint inspection by the Guardia di Finanza and the Customs Agency. The goods, loaded on a cargo vessel departing from Tekirdag and bound for Warsaw, were hidden inside a Turkish-registered truck identified through risk analysis.
Amid regular and properly declared products, inspectors found items bearing high-fashion brands — Chanel, Burberry, Dolce & Gabbana, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Guess, Moncler, Prada and others — destined for the counterfeit market. The value of the illicit profit is estimated at around three million euros. The legal representative of a Polish company was reported for importing and trading goods with fake trademarks, while the involved fashion houses confirmed the counterfeiting after an expert appraisal.
In the past two years, nearly two million counterfeit items have been intercepted at the Trieste port, confirming its role as one of the main entry points into the European Union for this type of trafficking.
In addition to the material destined for destruction, approximately 14,000 clothing items used as “cover cargo” were also seized. Since these items were not counterfeit, they were donated to charity. The beneficiary was the Trieste-based foundation «Luchetta Ota D’Angelo Hrovatin ETS», which will distribute the goods to the people it assists. The foundation’s president expressed gratitude for the donation, emphasising the importance of the support for the organisation’s daily activities.
