POLICE in Barcelona have uncovered thousands of counterfeit Harry Potter wands, scarfs and other goods in a huge raid on a toy shop.
The force found almost 10,000 fake items, including fancy dress costumes and even a replica of Hedwig, the young wizard’s Owl.
The total street value of the merchandise was over €305,000 (£272,000).
Although completely fake, the products were being sold as genuine merchandise, at the same price or more than the real deal.
Wands were priced at €35.99 (£32.11) but on the official Harry Potter website, they retail for £31.00
The replica of Hedwig carried a hefty price tag of €97.99 (£87.47), even though the majority of products were cheaply made forgeries from China.
A 38-year-old Spanish woman, who managed the shop, has been arrested and faces charges of industrial falsification – the Spanish equivalent of Counterfeiting.
A spokesman for the Guardia Civil 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.”
Various counterfeit goods can be found on the streets of Barcelona, but Police have been cracking down on the practice.
The Harry Potter books, later adapted into films, were written in Scotland by Edinburgh-based author JK Rowling.
The first book was published in 2007 and the fantasies won a legion of fans across the world.
Recently, the UBC Library in Vancouver acquired a U.K. first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the first book in the series, for about £26,000.
British pop star Zayn Malik recently sent fans crazy by showing that he was a fan of the series when he got got a tattoo of Harry’s nemesis Lord Voldemort.
