Police seizes 16 million falsified souvenirs in the 2025 jubilee

The Finance Guard, the Italian Financial Police, dealt with a hard blow to the illegal trade of souvenirs illegal religious related to the 2025 jubilee in an operation that ended the seizure of more than 16.5 million objects of this type that had been falsified.

These counterfeit objects, whose value amounts to at least one million euros, were destined for the pilgrims of the Holy Year who, since last December 24, constantly travel to Rome.

Among the confiscated objects there are rosaries, blessed water bottles, bracelets and medals that reproduce images of the Vatican or the official logo of the jubilee. All of them are elaborated without authorization, violate the regulations on intellectual property and damage both legal trade and the image of the important religious event.

Lieutenant Colonel Graziano Rubino, who has directed the operation, explained to ACI Press that eleven people, ten Chinese and an Italian, have been arrested within the framework of the operation. “It was a well -organized network of illegal production and distribution of souvenirs Religious, ”he said.

“The research activities began around May and June 2024, several months before the official beginning of the jubilee, to see in the areas located in front of the Vatican where the false material was sold,” explained the officer, highlighting that the controls intensified once the Holy See officially recorded the brand and presented Luce, the pet of the jubilee of hope.

Rubino explained that the police operation was not limited to the vicinity of the Vatican, but covered several areas of the Italian capital, being the airports of fiquecin and ciampino two key points.

In airports, through the Antifalsification Information System (SIAC), analysis of suspicious products was carried out upon arrival in Italian territory.

“It is a system specialized in combating falsification that allows us to trace the origin of the products and rebuild the supply chain,” he explained.

Thus they detected, for example, several packages full of falsified religious objects that came from Poland. “But in reality all the material inside had already gone through a scale and thus we discovered that the false merchandise came from China,” he said.

The main objective of this operation, Rubino explained, is to “protect the pilgrims,” ​​guaranteeing that the articles they acquire are authentic and respect the current regulations.

In this regard, he assured that the fight against illegal traffic of religious articles is also a protection measure for pilgrims, which often “trust the authenticity of religious objects that they buy without knowing that they have actually been falsified.”

Health risk

Thus, he explained that the proliferation of souvenirs FALSIFIED Not only is economic damage to legal trade, in addition to distorting in a certain way the deep meaning of devotion objects, but can also put the health of consumers at risk.

“A bracelet or a falsified medal is an object made with poor quality material. If a child plays with Luce, the jubilee pet, but it is false, the eyes can be detached, for example, the eyes and causing a choking,” Rubino warned.

“We have found nickel on the bracelets in disproportionate quantities. We have detected the presence of lead. They are elements that in large quantities become toxic. In addition, the used paint was discouraged in contact with the hands so it can become a dangerous product,” he explained.

However, thanks to the work coordinated by the Italian police “in the central areas the number of counterfeit goods has descended.”

Cooperation with the Vatican

Rubino stressed the importance of cooperation with the Vatican, which provided information materials to identify original products. “Registered brand products have a stamp that shows that the product is certified and guaranteed by the Vatican,” he added.

In addition, he encouraged pilgrims to verify the authenticity of the products through the Official Site of Jubileo 2025 Before buying them: “Pilgrims can connect with a simple smartphone and see if the object they are going to buy is registered.”