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U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers in Chicago intercepted 145 shipments of counterfeit watches and 340 shipments containing counterfeit driver’s licenses during the month of April. In total, those seized shipments contained 4,345 counterfeit licenses and 516 fake luxury-branded watches.
The 485 shipments, all of which originated from Hong Kong and China, were caught by Chicago CBP agents stationed at the International Mail Facility, the Express Consignment Operations hub, the Cargo Examination Station, and Chicago O’Hare International Airport.
The 516 counterfeit watches were branded with logos from luxury brands such as Rolex, Patek Philippe, Cartier, Omega, Coach, and Audemars Piguet. Had the seized items been legitimate they would have had a combined manufacturer’s suggested retail price over $9.22 million.
CBP
“Intellectual property theft threatens America’s economic vitality and funds criminal activities as well as organized crime,” said LaFonda D. Sutton-Burke, Director of Field Operations, Chicago Field Office. “Our employees are dedicated to protecting private industry and consumers by removing these kinds of goods from our commerce.”
In April, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the El Paso, Texas port of entry seized a shipment of counterfeit designer jewelry with a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $9,222,800.
All of watches were determined to fakes by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Centers of Excellence and Expertise. The Centers of Excellence and Expertise is broken up into organization units that focus on three strategic areas: the Partnership Division, the Validation and Compliance Division, and the Enforcement Division.
The Partnership Division is tasked with streamlining trade facilitation efforts through partnership programs and increase industry-based knowledge through bi-direction education efforts. The Validation and Compliance Division validates risk factors within an industry sector and develop approaches to improve compliance. And the Enforcement Division, develops and addresses risks through impactful national enforcement plans and strategies.
CBP
“These counterfeit driver’s licenses can lead to disastrous consequences,” said Michael Pfeiffer, Area Port Director, Chicago. “Foreign Terrorist Organizations, criminal organizations, and persons involved in fraud schemes use these counterfeit IDs to avoid attracting attention to their illegal activities. Our CBP officers were able to identify these very realistic counterfeits and stop them from reaching their destinations.”