NORFOLK, Va. – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers seized over $700,000 in counterfeit designer brand name clothes, purses, scarves, sneakers and other items in Norfolk, Va., on March 16.
CBP officers initially examined the shipment on February 3, which had arrived from Seoul, South Korea, and was destined to an address in Chesapeake, Va. The shipment consisted of 68 items bearing the designer brand trademarks of Burberry, Chanel, Christian Dior, Gucci, Hermes, Louis Vuitton, and Yves Saint Laurent, among others.
CBP officers suspected that the consumer goods were counterfeit and detained them to verify authenticity. Officers then submitted documentation and photographs to CBP’s trade experts at the Apparel, Footwear and Textiles Centers of Excellence and Expertise.
On March 6, CBP’s trade exerts verified that the consumer goods were not authentic and that they bore infringing trademarks and copyrights that had been recorded with CBP through the e-Recordation program (https://iprr.cbp.gov/s/).
The counterfeit consumer goods were valued at $708,097 manufacturer’s suggested retail price, had they been authentic.
CBP officers at the Area Port of Norfolk – Newport News completed the seizure on March 16.
No one has been criminally charged. An investigation continues.
“Unscrupulous vendors illegally profit on the backs, and feet, of American consumers by peddling phony and potentially perilous products as authentic goods,” said Mark Laria, CBP’s Area Port Director for the Area Port of Norfolk-Newport News. “CBP strongly encourages consumers to protect their families by purchasing authentic goods from reputable vendors.”
CBP protects businesses and consumers every day through an aggressive Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) enforcement program. The international trade in counterfeit consumer goods is illegal. It steals revenues from trademark holders, steals tax revenues from the government, funds transnational criminal organizations, and the unregulated products potentially threaten the health and safety of American consumers. Counterfeit consumer goods may also be sourced or manufactured in facilities that employ forced labor.
During fiscal year 2022, CBP officers and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents seized over 20,812 shipments containing goods that violated Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) in Fiscal Year (FY) 2022, which equates to nearly 25 million counterfeit goods. The total estimated manufacturer’s suggested retail price of the seized goods, had they been genuine, was over $2.98 billion (USD), or an average of over $8 million every day.
Additionally, HSI special agents arrested 255 individuals in 2022, obtained 192 indictments, and received 95 convictions related to intellectual property crimes. To learn more at HSI’s role in combatting counterfeiting, visit the National IPR Coordination Center.
Media can mine additional enforcement details by viewing CBP’s IPR webpage or by viewing previous years’ annual counterfeit goods seizure reports.
CBP's border security mission is led at our nation’s Ports of Entry by CBP officers and agriculture specialists from the Office of Field Operations. CBP screens international travelers and cargo and searches for illicit narcotics, unreported currency, weapons, counterfeit consumer goods, prohibited agriculture, invasive weeds and pests, and other illicit products that could potentially harm the American public, U.S. businesses, and our nation’s safety and economic vitality.
See what CBP accomplished during in 2022, learn more at www.CBP.gov.
Follow the Director of CBP’s Baltimore Field Office on Twitter at @DFOBaltimore for breaking news, current events, human interest stories and photos, and CBP’s Office of Field Operations on Instagram at @cbpfieldops.