10,000 fake Harry Potter wands seized
Almost 10,000 fake Harry Potter wands, cloaks and other paraphernalia were seized in a raid by Spanish police on a toy shop.
Scarves, hats and ties from Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw and Slytherin, the school houses in JK Rowling’s books, were found at a warehouse in Barcelona.
The Civil Guard said that the street value of the products was about euros 305,000.
The find included Harry Potter fancy dress costumes, wigs and a replica of Hedwig, the boy wizard’s owl.
Lamps, bags and pencil cases were also seized.
A Spanish woman aged 38 who managed the shop, was arrested and faces charges of industrial falsification, the Spanish equivalent of counterfeiting. If she is convicted she faces a fine.
A Civil Guard spokesman said: "Officers received intelligence that there was a large haul of falsified goods connected with Harry Potter at this establishment.
This raid was part of a wider operation against fake goods which are arriving mostly from China to Spain by sea and other routes. In this case, they were being sold in a shop to give the impression they were genuine, rather than in the street like football shirts and other fakes."
The Barcelona raid took place last month but was made public by police only on Thursday.