US Customs Seize $4.4m Fake Jewelry from Hong Kong

(IDEX Online) - US customs officers seized three shipments of counterfeit jewelry within 24 hours, with a total value, if genuine, of over $4.4m.

The first two shipments, both from Hong Kong and destined for a private residence in Jeffersonville, Indiana, contained 400 bracelets and almost 1,000 jewelry sets, all bearing suspect Van Cleef and Arpels trademarks.

The third, also also from Hong Kong, but was heading to a residence in Cleveland, Ohio. contained 1,367 counterfeit pendants.

Many bore suspect Chanel trademarks. Others were fake Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Fendi, Yves Saint Laurent, Tiffany, Versace and Givenchy.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers intercepted the counterfeit goods at Louisville, Kentucky, earlier this month.

"As consumers increasingly purchase from online or third party vendors, our officers are at the frontline to guard against defrauders expecting to make money selling fake merchandise," Louisville Port Director Thomas Mahn.

Pic shows a genuine Van Cleef and Arpels bracelet