Europol, the European Union’s law enforcement agency, has today annouced that nearly one thousand websites that were illegally selling counterfeit merchandise online to consumers have been seized by law enforcement authorities, following the international operation In Our Sites (IOS).
The operation tackled the sale of counterfeit goods and online piracy on e-commerce platforms and social networks.
Law enforcement agencies from Belgium, Bulgaria, Colombia, Croatia, Denmark, France, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Spain and the United Kingdom participated in this huge action, which was organised and led by Europol and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
For the first time in operation IOS’s four-year history, Interpol brought its support through eight of its member countries (Argentina, Chile, Japan, Hong Kong, China, Panama, Peru, South Korea and Thailand).
Europol’s role involved organising, coordinating, exchanging and subsequently analysing data among participating countries, and liaising with rights holders from the private sector.