MAXI-CONFISCATION OF COUNTERFEIT EYEWEAR IN MILAN

Almost six-thousand pairs of counterfeit eyeglasses were confiscated by the Milan Financial Police during an operation named Overlook, between July and August in the Milan area and in the province of Varese. Two people of Chinese origin were immediately arrested for counterfeiting and for receiving and selling misleading industrial products.

A press conference held in Milan explained that the operation carried out by the Financial Police was one of the biggest in this sector: a total of 588,997 items with a value of between four and six million euros were seized: sunglasses by the most prestigious brands, prescription eyeglasses, eyewear specifically for children. They were all fake and lacked the minimum safety requirements, but they were ready to be sold on the Italian market at an average price of seven euros.

They were also dangerous because in addition to the 450,000 pairs of sunglasses that did not have the CE mark, there were just under 60,000 pairs of prescription glasses which were also lacking in all legal requirements. According to the commander of the Milan Financial Police unit, Col. Roberto Fazio, the Overlook operation placed even greater emphasis on the disturbing aspects of these organized activities and reiterated "how important it was for citizens to buy safe and genuine products from stores".

The president of Federottica, Giulio Velati, pointed out that these counterfeit products are damaging "not only economically but also for health, given that the lenses put eyesight at risk because they have no filters".