News of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers intercepting fake designer sandals, purses, scarves and wallets, worth millions, has become common news. Only last week U.S Customs seized $2.5 million worth of ‘super fake’ Rolex watches that were shipped from China and now nearly $5 million in fake designer goods have been seized at LAX by CBP. The counterfeit consignment of designer goods at Los Angeles International Airport had arrived from China in the month of July through express air cargo; it was a huge shipment of nearly 200 boxes under the guise of ‘plastic office supplies’. Obviously that marking was far from true and the authorities counted 2,175 counterfeit Louis Vuitton sandals, 475 Chanel counterfeit sandals; 450 Dior counterfeit sandals, 400 Fendi counterfeit sandals, 375 Versace counterfeit sandals, and 325 Gucci counterfeit sandals. It wasn’t just sandals from luxe brands but also handbags and clutches from brands like Dior, Louis Vuitton and Gucci. Authorities seized a total of 572 Dior counterfeit crossbody handbags, 625 Louis Vuitton counterfeit clutches, 357 Gucci purses and the equally popular Gucci wallets along with 1,100 Louis Vuitton scarves were also seized.
If one calculates the worth of these items as genuine products, the estimated manufacturer’s suggested retail price total to a staggering $4,899,905.00. The counterfeit culture may be adamant but so is CBP, which has confiscated more than 27,500 shipments of counterfeit items nationwide that, if genuine, would have been worth about $1.5 billion.
[Via: CBP]
