"Busy Month" as US Customs Seize $27m Fake Jewelry
February 08, 25
(IDEX Online) - Counterfeit designer jewelry and watches with an "if genuine" value of $27.5m was seized last month by US customs officers in Louisville, Kentucky.
The Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said it had "a very busy month" in January and had intercepted 28 shipments, most of them from China and Hong Kong.
The shipments contained counterfeit designer watches, bracelets, rings, necklaces, and earrings. The CBP did not provide further details.
Jewelry and watches are by far the most valuable fake items seized, the CBP said, and around 90 per cent of all counterfeit seizures are from China and Hong Kong.
"Counterfeit goods are poor quality products that cost US businesses billions of dollars a year while robbing our country of jobs and tax revenues," said LaFonda D. Sutton-Burke of CBP.
"CBP officers throughout my field offices remain committed to stopping counterfeit smuggling, taking profits from organized crime, and helping protect our communities from potentially hazardous knockoffs."
Pic of a counterfeit Rolex watch seized by CBP.