Three shipments of counterfeit jewelry, valued at over $10 million if genuine, were seized entering the US within 24 hours.
A total of 2,387 items, fraudulently branded with trademarks from Van Cleef & Arpels, Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Gucci, Dior, Prada, Bvlgari, and Cartier, were intercepted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at the Port of Louisville in Kentucky.
All three shipments originated from China, were uninsured, and were imported under “de minimis regulations,” which allow tax-free entry of merchandise valued under $800.
The first shipment, valued at over $5 million if genuine, was addressed to a private residence in Brooklyn, New York. The other two were destined for separate residential addresses in Miami, Florida.
“Every day, CBP officers are seizing these fraudulent de minimis shipments sent by bad actors,” said LaFonda D. Sutton-Burke, Director of Field Operations at CBP’s Chicago Field Office. “Criminals are trying to exploit the mail environment by peddling their counterfeit products.”
