At the beginning of May 2018, one of the largest European law enforcement operations ever resulted in the shut-down of an illegal online marketplace selling counterfeit goods and pirated content, e.g., sports articles, medicines, mobile phones, bags, jewellery, sunglasses, clothing, watches, perfumes and cosmetics, illegal Internet Protocol Television(IPTV) set-top-boxes, etc.

Operation “Aphrodite” was run by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and national law enforcement authorities (from Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and the UK). It was supported by Europol’s Intellectual Property Crime Coordinated Coalition (IPC3). As a result, more than 20,000 packages of counterfeit goods were seized and over 1000 accounts were closed.