After a year of intense activity, with more than 37 million illegal products seized in 67 operations coordinated by the Security Office and the Municipal Secretariat for Urban Security, the city of São Paulo demonstrates the importance of maintaining the pace to effectively dismantle the attacks on organized crime behind the illegal trade.

The consolidated figures for the operations carried out in São Paulo under the Cidade Livre de Pirataria Program, coordinated by the Security Office and the Municipal Secretariat for Urban Security, leave no doubt as to the extent of the illegality that took place in the city and in the country. Between December From 2010 to January 2011, 37 million illegal products were seized, valued at R $ 1,9 billion, in 67 operations in large establishments and shopping malls. In addition, 20 million irregular products, including counterfeit products, were seized in illegal trade actions on the streets carried out by the subprefectures with the support of the Delegated Operation and the GCM.

Despite these important results, just two operations, in January this year, were enough to realize the capacity of articulation of the agents of the illegal trade. On January 24, in the first operation of the year, held at Shopping Pamplona, ​​on Avenida Paulista, 12 stores were inspected and, in just one afternoon, XNUMX counterfeit and illegal products were seized, predominantly watches, clothing and glasses.

Two days later, a new operation was started at Shopping Galeria Family, located in Brás, next to Feira da Madrugada. In this one, the numbers, still partial, were much more significant: in 34 stores inspected, 46 thousand seized piracy products, in addition to four foreigners having been taken to the Federal Police for being illegally in the country. The completion of the operation will depend on the progress of the work of inspection by the bodies of the Security Office and the volume of seizures that are made, but to have an idea of ​​the potential volume of illegal products, the place has 230 stores, of which only 34 have been inspected so far.

“This is an extremely serious issue, as it shows how much effort is needed to dismantle these true crime professionals, who, in a short time, are able to restructure their 'businesses' and act again”, evaluates Roberto Abdenur, executive president of the ETCO.

Abdenur also stresses that the repressive approach is only one of the possible ways to combat irregularities. Education and awareness of the population; improvement of inspection conditions by municipal, state and federal agents; review of the country's tax rules and greater speed in the judicial system are, for him, several sides of the same issue. “We cannot wait for miracles, but rather act more firmly, as the São Paulo City Hall has been doing, in the spheres that compete with us”, he concludes.