Eight people were detained in Buenos Aires for allegedly running a band dedicated to smuggling sneakers. The operation took place in the La Matanza and Lanús districts. According to police, the investigation began in July of this year with the analysis of websites and social networks, where researchers found various pages for selling shoes of famous brands. On these platforms, merchants offered the sneakers, which turned out to be imitations, at very high prices, with only online purchase and home delivery options. The Complex Crimes Investigation Directorate determined that the organization produced the items in clandestine imitation workshops, violating the National Trademarks and Designations Law, while the rest of the group was linked to the smuggling of sneakers from Brazil, violating Customs Law 22.415. In this regard, two warehouses of smuggled shoes were found in the Lanús district, owned by two individuals named Arturo Tabyryan and Hrant Tabyryan (the father of the former). Additionally, two fake sneaker factories were detected in La Matanza: one in Villa Celina and another in Villa Madero. The first was managed by a man identified as Tabra Quispe Glider, and a couple, Luciana Maribel González Galeano and Milciades Torres Portillo, managed the second property. The goods were stored until dispatched, and transactions were made through app trips, mail shipments, and online practices, so the contact between the customer and the merchant was via messages. The Morón Criminal and Correctional Court, led by Juan Manuel Culotta, granted four search warrants for the mentioned locations, and the arrests of the suspects were carried out. Executives of the targeted companies explained that the sneakers found in La Matanza were counterfeit, while the items seized in Valentín Alsina belonged to smuggled goods from Brazil. The captures of Brian Francisco Píneda Rivera, Gisela Rojas, Griselda Belén Sanco, and Matías Mercado were achieved. During the operations, police seized approximately 8,300 pairs of sneakers from brands like Nike, Adidas, Puma, Converse, Vans, All Star, and Caterpillar, 11,735 sneaker boxes, 14 cutting machines, one industrial-sized digital cutting machine, three industrial printers attached to computers, four stamping machines, seven computer-linked knitting machines, two embroidery machines, and 220 fake t-shirts, among other relevant items. In La Matanza, there were 31 informal workers who generally entered their workplace from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. in miserable conditions with very low remuneration, and an average monthly salary of $400,000; while in the Lanús residences, two employees were found in normal but undeclared working conditions, with an 8-hour workday and an approximate salary of $800,000.
