MIAMI – The El Baratón storefront in Miami’s Flagami neighborhood has large signs advertising perfumes, watches, purses, shoes and clothes for sale; its logo features the “shush” emoji.
What’s no longer a secret, police say, is that a lot of the goods sold at El Baratón were stolen from area retailers — and, in the back room, its owner was also involved in a million-dollar scheme to sell counterfeit cigar labels and boxes.
Miami-Dade police arrested Jorge Gomero, 52, on a series of felony charges Monday.
Detective Andre Martin, a Miami-Dade police spokesperson, said in a news release that Gomero was among “a group of individuals who have been stealing ‘over the counter’ health and beauty supplies as well as clothing from major retailers.”
Detectives saw members of the group bringing in “garbage bags full of stolen merchandise” to the business, located at 4746 W. Flagler St., where Gomero would resell the items.
Police said after executing a search warrant, they found more than $28,000 worth of fenced items being sold El Baratón — which roughly translates to “the cheapest” in Spanish — for well under retail.
They then found “4,499 counterfeit cigar boxes and several thousand counterfeit cigar labels,” valued at $1,124,750, Martin said.
Brands included Romeo Y Julieta, H. Upmann, Monte Cristo, Cohiba, Cao, Bolivar, El Rey del Mundo, La Gloria Cubana, Macanudo, Punch, Partagas and Sancho Panza.
Gomero, police said, “was taking orders for these boxes and labels from individuals who then intended on utilizing them to sell counterfeit cigars as authentic products.”
Authorities arrested Gomero on four counts of dealing in stolen property and one count each of third-degree grand theft, selling, purchasing or possessing $20,000 or more in counterfeit labels and forging or counterfeiting private labels.
According to jail records, he was being held in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a $22,500 bond. If he posts bond, he’ll have to prove that the funds came from a legitimate source.