On July 24, 2026, a successful anti-counterfeiting raid action was coordinated and executed with law enforcement at a property in Comas district (on the norther of Lima city). A relevant hub of counterfeiting was detected due to prior intelligence actions. They mainly were the follow-up of some orders coming to the market known as ‘CAQUETA’ in Lima downtown, surveillance on several addresses and even documentary research involving potential importation of manufacturing supplies.
After confirming the presence of the shoe soles, and meet favorable operational conditions, the raid action took place. Led by the Police Division against Intellectual Property Law, the operation targeted illegal manufacturing setups violating commercial trademark and copyright protections. During the raid, authorities arrested an individual (alleged owner of the goods and holder of the manufacturing) on-site, after he could not provide any evidence of license nor authorization involving the intellectual property on the soles. To reinforce the probable cause of the crime, representatives of the offended parties (IPR holders) participated directly in the inventory of the items, confirming the deliberate unauthorized reproduction of copyrighted characters and unlawful usage of trademarks.
The economic and commercial impact of this operation is highly significant for intellectual property owners. Police seized approximately 5,000 units of shoe soles that copied trendy, copyrighted characters like Hello Kitty. Crucially, the operation also stopped the manufacturing of sneaker models confusingly similar to iconic models, as the confiscated soles replicated the almost identical morphology and patterns of world-famous registered brands like Nike Air Force 1 and Converse Chuck Taylor. Law enforcement seized three aluminum molding matrices valued between $2,000 USD and $5,000 USD. Additionally, a professional rotary shoe injection machine used to mass-produce these counterfeit items was fully immobilized at the premises. Due to the aforementioned circumstances, the seized merchandise and effects of the operation was valued around US$ 500,000.00.
Now, the main suspect might face serious criminal liabilities. According to articles 217 and 222 of the Peruvian Criminal Code, manufacturing, distributing, or storing goods that violate registered industrial designs and copyrights carries severe penalties. The perpetrators can face prison sentences ranging from two to six years for copyright crimes; and two to five years for industrial property crimes. Furthermore, disqualification to conduct economic activities involving the aforementioned trademarks and copyright to prevent further infringements. Last but not least, the individual might be required to pay substantial statutory fines and damages to the affected international brand owners to compensate for the market dilution and lost revenue.
This decisive case reinforces Peru's ongoing public-private commitment to fighting piracy and counterfeiting. It removes dangerous manufacturing infrastructure from the black market and protects legal retail networks. Moving forward, the seized counterfeit soles must be destroyed at the end of the proceeding, following the provisions 36 and 39 of the Public Ministry's Seized Property Regulation. This standard legal process guarantees that illegal merchandise is permanently eliminated from commercial supply chains, safeguarding fair competition and consumer safety.
