Brazilian police will "crackdown on less-than-approved use of the five rings, mascots and other Olympic symbols ahead of the Games, which start in Rio de Janeiro on Friday," according to Paulo Prada of REUTERS. In a country "where pirate versions of just about any product are as common as tropical fruit, Olympic organizers are battling a tide of bootleg goods sold and produced by those seeking to profit from the hype around the first-ever Games held in South America." Valeria Aragão, a police inspector in charge of a 20-member counterfeit squad, said, "These are opportunists." Narcotics police, meanwhile, in recent busts have "even seized bricks of pressed marijuana and packets of cocaine that traffickers adorned with the Olympic rings." In Brazil, "the black market is big business." Sales of pirate and counterfeit goods each year "exceed well over" $30B, according to estimates by various industries. Over the past week, the squad led by Aragão "raided souvenir stands at well-known tourist markets in the popular beachfront neighborhoods of Copacabana and Ipanema." They seized over 2,300 items, "ranging from pens and key chains to T-shirts and beach towels." Aragão said, "People want to take advantage of an event like this, whether they know it's illegal or not." In a giant white tent on the sands of Copacabana beach, the main drag for Rio tourism, Rio 2016 recently set up what it is calling a "megastore" (REUTERS, 8/2).
