Ensenada, Baja California — The Government of Mexico has seized approximately 320 million pesos in smuggled articles in Baja California. The articles were seized this week in a mega-smuggling bust in the port city of Ensenada.
The government began the crackdown after more than 70,000 Mexican jobs were lost in the textile industry in the past 18 months due to smuggling and piracy.
It is the largest operation carried out against the smuggling of articles in Mexico. Earlier this week, more than 3 million items with an estimated value of 320 million pesos were seized through the coordination of the Ministry of Economy and the Government of Baja California.
The smuggling bust is Mexico’s fourth this year. The same government agencies have also performed anti-smuggling busts in Mexico City, Sonora and Coahuila. The illegal items originate from various areas of Asia and are smuggled into Mexico for sale.
Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon, the Secretary of Economy, said the seizures are being conducted with the objective of protecting the industry as well as Mexican workers.
In a press conference Thursday, Casaubon recognized the work of the Government of Baja California in the operation.
“This is one of the most important operations ever carried out in Mexico. There were more than three million items seized. Remember that when we started there were around 300,000 items. We are now at three million,” said Secretary Ebrard in a press conference.
“It is very interesting that as we go north, the number of goods and products increases. These are illegal goods that are violating all the rules, those of civil protection, the provisions that have to do with labeling, intellectual property, industrial property, and we are not going to allow it,” he added.
The bust was made during Operation Clean-up in a historic joint deployment between the Federal Ministry of Economy and the Government of Baja California against smuggling illicit merchandise into Mexico.
Operation Clean-Up has been implemented in Mexico City, Sonora, Coahuila, and now in Baja California, as part of a strategy promoted by the Government of Mexico, led by President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, to prevent the transfer of contraband and pirated merchandise.
Baja California Governor Marina del Pilar Avila Olmeda said that Baja California reiterates its full support for President Claudia Sheinbaum to combat smuggling and illegal goods.
The state leader reported that inspections were carried out in two important establishments in Ensenada, in a space of 18,000 square meters where authorities seized 3 million articles with an estimated value of 320 million pesos, which are presumed to have been brought into the country illegally.
The deployment in Ensenada was coordinated by Carlos Candelaria, head of the Prospective, Planning and Evaluation Unit of the federal Ministry of Economy, and Alfredo Álvarez Cárdenas, head of the General Secretariat of Government of Baja California.
371 elements from different agencies participated, deploying 190 units. This joint effort included the National Guard, the Navy, the Treasury and Public Credit, the General Secretariat of the Government of Baja California, State Civil Protection, SAT-BC, Cofepris, Public Security of Ensenada, Movilidad BC, the Attorney General’s Office of the State of Baja California, among others.
Operation Clean-Up seeks to safeguard the textile, shoe and toy industries, among others, as well as the jobs they generate for Mexican workers.
In the last 18 months, the textile industry has lost more than 70,000 jobs due to smuggling and piracy.
The Governor stated that all relevant judicial alternatives will be evaluated to determine the appropriate legal actions for companies that have not complied with Mexican regulations, through the corresponding agencies.
