For those looking forward to their “designer-inspired” fashions arriving in time for their annual Christmas parties, U.S. Customs and Border Protection had other plans.
In a statement released on December 2nd, the agency announced that they’d conducted a massive counterfeit designer bust at the Los Angeles Seaport on November 9th. Inside the confiscated container shipped from China, they located over $30 million worth of fake Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Chanel, YSL, and Gucci products. There were 13,586 products in total that were seized, ranging from handbags to clothing.
“The sale of counterfeit commodities multiplies the illegal profits of smugglers and traffickers who reinvest the proceeds from such sales into further criminal enterprises,” the CBP said in its statement.
The CBP has continued to crack down on the multi-billion dollar fake designer industry. However, with these black market knock-offs bringing in a staggering almost $500 billion worldwide every year, it is unlikely that the problem is going away any time soon. The agency warned that these products see an increase during the holiday season, as people flock to overseas websites seeking luxury fashions at a low price.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is now warning consumers to remain “vigilant” of imitations.
