Smuggling ring caught after making millions of euros

Thousands of consumers paid 3.27 million euros over the last couple of years for counterfeit trainers brought into Greece and sold by a gang recently busted by the country's Financial Crime Squad (SDOE). The fact that this is the turnover of just one gang that was focused on a single commodity illustrates the size of the problem for consumers, state revenues and the companies that operate legally.

SDOE announced on Friday that the ring was identified earlier this month, and comprised a number of people. It used misleading ads on Facebook to sell shoes that were supposedly manufactured by well-known sports brands at particularly low prices.

Authorities found out about the ring after September 20, when they intercepted a container with 7,932 pairs of counterfeit Adidas and Nike trainers inside. The container had originated from Albania and its final destination was...