LOUISVILLE, Ky— In just 24 hours, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officers at the Port of Louisville seized three shipments containing a total of 2,387 pieces of jewelry including rings, bracelets, necklaces, and earrings bearing designer trademarks. The items were deemed to be inauthentic by CBP’s Centers of Excellence and Expertise, the agency’s trade experts, and if genuine, would have had a combined Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of over $10.08 million.
On July 1, CBP seized the first shipment, which originated from China and was found to contain jewelry bearing the trademarks of famous luxury brands, including: 100 Van Cleef and Arpels necklaces, 23 Louis Vuitton necklaces, 37 Hermes necklaces, 66 Gucci necklaces, 30 Tous necklaces, 75 Dior necklaces, 8 Prada necklaces, 22 Versace necklaces, 46 Tiffany and Co necklaces, 15 Bvlgari necklaces, 9 Calvin Klein necklaces, 140 Van Cleef and Arpels bracelets, 184 Cartier bracelets, 129 Bvlgari bracelets, 47 Chanel bracelets, 53 Michael Kors bracelets, 14 Carolina Herrera bracelets, 26 Gucci bracelets, 13 Hermes bracelets, 21 Louis Vuitton bracelets, 2 Tory Burch bracelets, 3 Tous bracelets, 5 Tiffany and Co bracelets, 2 Rolex bracelets, 1 Yves Saint Laurent bracelet, 12 Louis Vuitton rings, 9 Chanel rings, 63 Cartier rings, 36 Versace rings, 18 Bvlgari rings, 79 Gucci rings, 104 Tous rings, 21 Daniel Wellington rings, 42 Calvin Klein rings, 14 Hermes rings, 4 Tiffany and Co rings, and 2 Rolex rings. The items were seized for infringing on the designer’s protected trademarks that had been recorded with CBP for border enforcement through the e-Recordation program. The shipment contained a total of 1,466 pieces of jewelry and was heading to a residence in Brooklyn, New York. Had the items been genuine, the MSRP for these products would have been over $5.13 million.
On July 2, CBP seized the second and third shipments, which also originated from China and were heading to separate residential addresses in Miami, Florida. When CBP officers inspected the first shipment, they found 78 bracelets, 42 necklaces and 42 pairs of earrings displaying the logos of Van Cleef and Arpels and Cartier. Inspection of the second shipment revealed 140 Cartier bracelets, 220 Van Cleef and Arpels bracelets, 150 Van Cleef and Arpels necklaces, 110 Van Cleef and Arpels rings, and 140 Van Cleef and Arpels pair of earrings- a total of 921 pieces our counterfeit jewelry. Had the items been genuine, the MSRP for these products would have been over $4.95 million.
All items were seized pursuant to CBP’s intellectual property enforcement authorities and were turned over to Homeland Security Investigations for further analysis. All three shipments were uninsured and imported under de minimis regulations, 19 U.S.C. 1321, commonly referred to as ‘Section 321’. The de minimis exemption allow CBP to pass free of duty and tax, merchandise imported by one person on one day that has an aggregate fair retail value in the country of shipments of $800 or less. In 2015, CBP processed 139 million de minimis transactions. By 2023, this has increased to more than 1 billion, representing a 662% growth in eight years. In FY 2024, nearly 4 million de minimis shipments arrive at CBP facilities for targeting, review, and potential physical examination each day. With the rise in e-commerce and small packages illegal actors are taking advantage of the unprecedented volume of e-commerce shipments entering the U.S. and the opacity of global supply chains to introduce illicit goods into the country. CBP estimates nearly 90 percent of the shipments coming into the United States are now entering as low value shipments claiming the de minimis exemption. This illustrates just how much growth has occurred in the e-commerce sector.
“These large seizures illustrate the work our officers do every day to protect our country, its citizens, and the economy,” said LaFonda D. Sutton-Burke, Director, Field Operations, Chicago Field Office. “Every day CBP officers are seizing these fraudulent de minimis shipments sent by bad actors. Criminals are trying to exploit the mail environment by peddling their counterfeit products. Even though this package had a low declared value, they pose the same potential health, safety, and economic security risks as larger and more traditional containerized shipments.”
The illicit trafficking of counterfeit goods offers criminals a complementary source of income and a way through which they can launder money. Additionally, monies received from the sale of counterfeit products can be channeled towards the further production of fake goods or other illicit activities. Additionally, counterfeiting is a hugely profitable business, with criminals relying on the continued high demand for cheap goods coupled with low production costs.
In FY23, CBP seized 19,522 shipments with intellectual property rights (IPR) violations for a total of nearly 23 million counterfeit items. If the seized products were genuine, their total MSRP would be valued at $2.4 billion. CBP protects citizens from unsafe and substandard products by seizing merchandise infringing on trademarks and copyrights recorded with CBP through the e-Recordation program https://iprr.cbp.gov/s/. CBP has established an educational initiative to raise consumer awareness about the consequences and dangers often associated with the purchase of counterfeit and pirated goods. Information about the Truth Behind Counterfeits public awareness campaign can be found at https://www.cbp.gov/FakeGoodsRealDangers.
CBP encourages anyone with information about counterfeit merchandise illegally imported into the United States to submit an e-Allegation. The e-Allegation system provides a means for the public to anonymously report to CBP any suspected violations of trade laws or regulations related to the importation of goods in the U.S.
CBP’s border security mission is led at 328 ports of entry by CBP officers from the Office of Field Operations. Please visit CBP Ports of Entry to learn more about how CBP’s Office of Field Operations secures our nation’s borders. Learn more about CBP at www.CBP.gov.