Kentucky customs officers seize nearly 600 fake watches. They’d be worth $22.5M if real
U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Louisville seized a parcel of counterfeit watches Thursday that would have been valued at over $22.5 million if the watches were real, according to an announcement from CBP.
The parcel contained 584 counterfeit watches that had Rolex and Cartier trademarked logos, according to CBP. The package came from an individual in Hong Kong and was on its way to a resident in Jamaica, New York, officials said.
“Intellectual property theft threatens America’s economic vitality and funds criminal activities and organized crime,” LaFonda D. Sutton-Burke, director of field operations at the CBP Chicago Field Office, said in a statement. “Our officers are dedicated to protecting private industry and consumers by removing these kinds of shipments from our commerce.”
CBP said there were other seizures Thursday, including the capture of a parcel that contained six counterfeit Richard Millie watches that would have been worth $755,000 if they were real.
According to CBP, the growing e-commerce economy has contributed to large volumes of low-value, small packages being imported into the United States, and the primary product has been fake watches. In the last four years, $1.18 billion in counterfeit watches have been seized by CBP.
“Consumers are always looking for the best deal, the unfortunate part is criminals are also online pedaling their counterfeit products,” said Thomas Mahn, the port director in Louisville. “Our CBP officers will continue to seize counterfeit items that threaten the safety and health of consumers and weaken the U.S. economy.”
