If you’re the sort of style hound who scours Atlanta’s strip malls and downtown streets for peddlers who pawn counterfeit handbags, watches and shoes off on the masses, lean times are ahead.News agencies now report that U.S. Customs agents seized shiploads of fake goods _ including Louis Vuitton and Coach replicas _ on Chinese vessels docked in New Jersey.
The Feds estimate that the goods captured have a street value of $10 million. According to the Associated Press, “The cargo was destined for locations in New York, South Carolina and Georgia.”
Todd Kahn, a senior VP at Coach gave the Feds involved in the never-ending fight against faux luxury goods a verbal pat on the back, saying: “We are grateful for the work that Customs and Border Protection is doing to protect our borders as well as stopping illegal products from entering.”
In other words, the supply chain may be snapping.
Somehow, the counterfeit sting (which included “handbags from Coach, Louis Vuitton, Fendi and Dolce & Gabbana, as well as Gucci shoes and belts and Nike Air Jordan and Nike Air Force One sneakers”, according to wwd.com) was sniffed out in six different cargo holds. They were packed in crates that falsely claimed to contain, among other things, toys and home furnishings.
In a statement to the press, New York Customs director Robert E. Perez said: “Stemming the flow of importer counterfeit and pirated goods remains a high priority for the agency.”
How long can it be then, before, law enforcement starts spying around corners for those who think it’s a victim-less crime to buy fake goods on the cheap? Alas, the fashion police never sleeps.
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