Customs and Border Protection officers in Indianapolis have seized a shipment containing designer counterfeit Cartier watches that if genuine, would have been worth more than $4m.
The shipment, which was headed to New York from Hong Kong, contained 30 luxury brand watches and bore unauthorized versions of Cartier’s trademark.
Officers at the Port of Indianapolis intercepted the shipment and determined the watches were not authentic.
“CBP encourages honest trade and urges consumers to think twice before purchasing merchandise from unfamiliar online entities,” said LaFonda D. Sutton-Burke, director of field operations, Chicago Field Office. “Purchasing counterfeit goods enables criminal enterprises, and the profits made from these items fund their illicit activities. Officers at the Port of Indianapolis are dedicated to the CBP mission and work vigilantly for American consumers by stopping the flow of pirated merchandise.”
For the last three years, the top commodities seized for Intellectual Property Rights infringement with the highest total MSRP have been jewelry, watches, and handbags/wallets.
Additionally, China and Hong Kong are consistently the top two source countries for these seizures. Last year, seizures from the two countries accounted for approximately 90% of the total amount of seized items.
Commonly, these goods are sold in underground outlets and on third party e-commerce websites.
Counterfeit commodities fund smugglers and members of organized crime. Consumers often believe they are buying a genuine product but soon realize the item is substandard.