ASAE Cracks a €600,000 Counterfeit Auto-Parts Ring Across Gaia, Leiria and Lisbon — OLAF-Backed Operation Recovers 14,629 Filters, Bearings and Brake Cylinders

The Autoridade de Segurança Alimentar e Económica (ASAE, Authority for Food and Economic Safety) has dismantled a counterfeit auto-parts network spanning three Portuguese districts, seizing 14,629 falsified components with a retail value above €600,000. The Lisbon-headquartered economic-crime regulator announced the operation late on 3 June after coordinated raids in Vila Nova de Gaia, Leiria and Lisbon. Technical and financial support came from the EU's Organismo Europeu de Luta Antifraude (OLAF, European Anti-Fraud Office).

What was seized

The recovered stock breaks down across eight component families: oil filters, fuel filters, air filters and cabin filters at the top of the volume table, plus precision bearings, control valves, belt tensioners and brake cylinders. ASAE characterised the lot as "high-volume, high-rotation" parts — components that consumers and independent garages typically buy in bulk, where a fake stamp or a near-identical box is hardest to detect at the point of sale. Several reference codes mimicked OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) markings from German, French and Japanese brands.

The OLAF angle

OLAF's involvement is the operational fingerprint of an EU-coordinated case. The Brussels-based agency provided trademark-verification experts from the rights-holder side and helped trace cross-border invoicing back through warehouses inside the Iberian peninsula. ASAE confirmed that the suspected supply chain stretches into another EU member state but has not named the jurisdiction while judicial cooperation is still being formalised. Criminal charges brought so far include contrafação (counterfeiting), uso ilegítimo de marca (illegitimate trademark use) and fraude sobre mercadorias (fraud on goods) under the Código da Propriedade Industrial (Industrial Property Code).

The safety stakes

ASAE issued an unusually sharp public warning that counterfeit auto components present "serious risks to road safety and the physical integrity of drivers and passengers." The regulator pointed to brake-cylinder failures and oil-filter blow-outs as the categories where a substandard part most directly translates into a roadside crash or engine fire. Industry body Associação Nacional dos Importadores e Vendedores de Automóveis (ARAN, National Association of Vehicle Importers and Sellers) has long lobbied for tougher checks on the independent aftermarket, and welcomed the operation as the largest single-day seizure of fake parts in Portugal in over a decade.

How the case fits into the regulator's year

The operation is the second large counterfeit case ASAE has closed in 2026. In February, the regulator dismantled a textile-counterfeit ring in Vila Nova de Famalicão with retail value of €1.1 million; the auto-parts haul, though lower in headline number, is more politically charged because of the direct safety nexus. ASAE's 2026 enforcement priorities, published in the Plano Nacional de Fiscalização (National Inspection Plan) in January, name the automotive aftermarket as a focus segment alongside cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and e-commerce platforms.

For consumers, the regulator's standing advice is to buy aftermarket components from distributors registered with the Instituto da Mobilidade e dos Transportes (IMT, Mobility and Transport Institute) and to cross-check serial numbers with manufacturer websites — a tedious step, but the only reliable defence against fakes that pass visual inspection. Anyone with information on the network can submit a denúncia (complaint) anonymously through the ASAE online portal, and the agency confirmed on Saturday afternoon that follow-on searches are scheduled for next week.