Ho, Ho, Hoax! Over $4 Million In Counterfeit Goods Seized During Operation Holiday Hoax
Angelenos might want to check the authenticity of gifted apparel this holiday season. Santa might squeeze down the chimney with imitation brands in his sac. A six-week worldwide counterfeit good operation has yielded the seizure of over $4 million in bogus merchandise in Los Angeles alone.
Several agencies, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), conducted Operation Holiday Hoax, a crackdown on the import and sale of counterfeit goods.
Fake designer jeans, apparel and athletic shoes top the list of phony merchandise, reports CBS LA. The most commonly ripped off brands are True Religion, Nike and The North Face.
The National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center and its partners, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the government of Mexico plus state and local law enforcement targeted the importation, distribution and selling of counterfeit and pirated products in 66 U.S. cities, Seoul, South Korea and 55 Mexican cities, according to DVIDS. Various U.S. ports of entry were inspected in the operation, as were numerous stores, flea markets and swap meets.
In total, more than 327,000 counterfeit items were seized with a manufacturer's suggested retail price tag of about $76.8 million.
