LOUISVILLE, Ky. — United States Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents seized more than $280,000 worth of counterfeit sports memorabilia in Indiana and Kentucky airports this week.
According to a press release, on July 11 and July 12, CBP officers in Indianapolis and Louisville seized 178 counterfeit championship rings and 171 counterfeit professional sports jerseys.
If the items were genuine, they would be valued around $288,350, officials said.
The first shipment arrived in Indianapolis on Monday. Inside were 108 counterfeit jerseys from several NBA, MLB and NFL teams. The shipment was headed to a residence California.
Authorities say that same day, Louisville agents stopped 63 fake MLB jerseys from reaching a home in Illinois.
On Tuesday, CBP agents in Louisville were also able to seize a shipment of 178 counterfeit championship rings headed to Florida.
All the shipments were arriving from various location in China, the release said.
The items were declared fake based on observations such as improper description of goods, value declared, packaging, poor quality materials, sub-par printing and the shipping of commercial goods to a home address.
“Counterfeiters only care about making a profit,” Thomas Mahn, port director in Louisville, said. “They do not care about the effect their fake product has on you, your family, or the economy.”
In Fiscal Year 2021, the CBP seized more than 27,000 shipments with Intellectual Property Rights-related violations. Those shipments, if sold at market value, would have been worth more than $3.3 billion.
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