MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish police arrested 71 people on Friday for allegedly selling counterfeit goods, in the country's biggest crackdown to date against intellectual property theft and money laundering, the Interior Ministry said.
Agents raided stores, ships and warehouses and seized more than 8 million euros ($8.45 million) worth of fake goods, including handbags, watches, sunglasses and jewelry, with some stashed behind secret walls, the statement said.
Some of the goods were imported from China, Turkey and Portugal. Others were manufactured in Spain, according to the ministry.
The three-year operation also identified up to 9 million euros of related money laundering. The investigation focused on the towns of La Junquera and Le Perthus on the Spanish-French border.
($1 = 0.9467 euros)