Officials Seize Counterfeit Holiday Goods and Make Numerous Arrests
Charlles Reed/U.S. Immigration and Customs EnforcementAgents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement have seized about 327,000 counterfeit items worth about $77 million.
While counterfeiters are well known for cashing in during the holidays on high-price items like fake Chanel bags, this year they have put more energy into the lower end — expanding into Christmas lights, plastic Angry Birds toys and National Football League jerseys.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Counterfeit True Religion jeans are popular this holiday season.
It is a bleak economy, even when it is a counterfeit economy.
“They’re keeping up with the times,” said John Morton, the director of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which plans to announce Thursday that recently it has seized about 327,000 counterfeit items worth about $77 million in the United States, along with some merchandise from Mexico.
Thirty-three people were arrested — 30 arrests in the United States and three in South Korea — and charged with counterfeit-goods trafficking, the authorities said.
“People tend to focus on luxury goods and DVDs, and that really understates the problem,” Mr. Morton said. “We live in an age where literally everything, from medicine to air bags to circuit boards, are being counterfeited.”
The fake products are keeping up with demand: Angry Birds toys, for instance, became available only this year and are already being copied widely. Also being copied are popular True Religion jeans.
For buyers of Christmas lights, the counterfeiters have even copied the Underwriters Laboratories trademark, which people associate with safe products. But the seized lights are not safe, Mr. Morton said. They have undersize wires and lack replaceable fuses integrated into the plug.
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the wires in such cases can overheat and start fires.
The safety problems of the seized goods extend well beyond Christmas lights, Mr. Morton said.
“Counterfeit batteries are going to explode, a counterfeit electrical cord might catch fire and burn the house down,” he said. “Toys are always a concern. You never know what’s going into the actual manufacturing in terms of the chemicals. Obviously you don’t know whether they have been tested in terms of, are they safe for toddlers.”
How do you know if you are buying a counterfeit item? A giveaway, customs officials say, is the packaging. Misspellings and bad grammar are common on packages and instructions. Also, obvious poor quality — like uneven stitching — should raise suspicions.
The current round of investigations focused on items sold in 66 American and 55 Mexican cities as well as items crossing the border. The items were confiscated from small retailers, swap meets, flea markets, ports and warehouses.
“We want legitimate commerce to prosper between both our nations,” said Alfredo Gutiérrez, director of the Tax Administration Service of Mexico.
The Obama administration has had “an increased focus on counterfeiting and piracy,” Mr. Morton said. The number of seizures of counterfeit goods rose 34 percent in 2010 from 2009, to about 19,960. (A big operation includes several seizures — this one, called Operation Holiday Hoax II, included 170 seizures.)
“We’re trying to create a safe and lawful environment around the holiday shopping season,” Mr. Morton said. Counterfeiters “don’t pay taxes and customs duties, they don’t tend to pay health care, they don’t tend to invest in the next great product.”
“In a time of great economic distress in many countries, including our own, we need to make sure that we are protecting innovation, jobs, revenue,” he said.
“They’re keeping up with the times,” said John Morton, the director of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which plans to announce Thursday that recently it has seized about 327,000 counterfeit items worth about $77 million in the United States, along with some merchandise from Mexico.
Thirty-three people were arrested — 30 arrests in the United States and three in South Korea — and charged with counterfeit-goods trafficking, the authorities said.
“People tend to focus on luxury goods and DVDs, and that really understates the problem,” Mr. Morton said. “We live in an age where literally everything, from medicine to air bags to circuit boards, are being counterfeited.”
The fake products are keeping up with demand: Angry Birds toys, for instance, became available only this year and are already being copied widely. Also being copied are popular True Religion jeans.
For buyers of Christmas lights, the counterfeiters have even copied the Underwriters Laboratories trademark, which people associate with safe products. But the seized lights are not safe, Mr. Morton said. They have undersize wires and lack replaceable fuses integrated into the plug.
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the wires in such cases can overheat and start fires.
The safety problems of the seized goods extend well beyond Christmas lights, Mr. Morton said.
“Counterfeit batteries are going to explode, a counterfeit electrical cord might catch fire and burn the house down,” he said. “Toys are always a concern. You never know what’s going into the actual manufacturing in terms of the chemicals. Obviously you don’t know whether they have been tested in terms of, are they safe for toddlers.”
How do you know if you are buying a counterfeit item? A giveaway, customs officials say, is the packaging. Misspellings and bad grammar are common on packages and instructions. Also, obvious poor quality — like uneven stitching — should raise suspicions.
The current round of investigations focused on items sold in 66 American and 55 Mexican cities as well as items crossing the border. The items were confiscated from small retailers, swap meets, flea markets, ports and warehouses.
“We want legitimate commerce to prosper between both our nations,” said Alfredo Gutiérrez, director of the Tax Administration Service of Mexico.
The Obama administration has had “an increased focus on counterfeiting and piracy,” Mr. Morton said. The number of seizures of counterfeit goods rose 34 percent in 2010 from 2009, to about 19,960. (A big operation includes several seizures — this one, called Operation Holiday Hoax II, included 170 seizures.)
“We’re trying to create a safe and lawful environment around the holiday shopping season,” Mr. Morton said. Counterfeiters “don’t pay taxes and customs duties, they don’t tend to pay health care, they don’t tend to invest in the next great product.”
“In a time of great economic distress in many countries, including our own, we need to make sure that we are protecting innovation, jobs, revenue,” he said.
Fury
In Brooklyn, a female jogger is brutally raped; the assailants are convicted and later exonerated by the Kings County DA. Now the guilty are filing a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the city of New York, the police, and the two assistant DAs who tried the case. While the cops and the criminal justice system are under media assault and opportunist political demagoguery, Karp has suspicions that there is corruption within his own office.
Against a backdrop of Russian mobsters and corrupt lawyers, Butch and Marlene are on a mission to restore the system's lost dignity and bring the rapists to justice. All the while terrorists are at it again, planning to blow the roof off Times Square on New Year's Eve. Alas, the Karp family finds itself in lethal jeopardy, and to survive, they must team up and fight their greatest battle yet.
Robert K. Tanenbaum has written a mindboggling thriller involving a web of corruption and courtroom confrontations. Fans of Butch Karp, as well as the classic New York crime drama, will find plenty to sink their teeth into with Fury.
In Brooklyn, a female jogger is brutally raped; the assailants are convicted and later exonerated by the Kings County DA. Now the guilty are filing a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the city of New York, the police, and the two assistant DAs who tried the case. While the cops and the criminal justice system are under media assault and opportunist political demagoguery, Karp has suspicions that there is corruption within his own office.
Against a backdrop of Russian mobsters and corrupt lawyers, Butch and Marlene are on a mission to restore the sys! tem's lo st dignity and bring the rapists to justice. All the while terrorists are at it again, planning to blow the roof off Times Square on New Year's Eve. Alas, the Karp family finds itself in lethal jeopardy, and to survive, they must team up and fight their greatest battle yet.
Robert K. Tanenbaum has written a mindboggling thriller involving a web of corruption and courtroom confrontations. Fans of Butch Karp, as well as the classic New York crime drama, will find plenty to sink their teeth into with Fury.
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