Customs and Border Protection personnel in Louisville announced Friday the seizure of 2,760 pieces of counterfeit jewelry sent from Hong Kong this week that, if real, would have been worth $4.41 million.
On Monday, agents intercepted two shipments, both with the same sending address in Hong Kong and the same receiving address in Jeffersonville, Indiana — but with two different named recipients.
Altogether, the two shipments contained 1,393 bracelets with fraudulent Van Cleef and Arpels trademarks. Trade experts at the Center of Excellence and Expertise confirmed the merchandise was fake. If the products had been real, they would have been worth $3.7 million
On Tuesday, another parcel was held for further inspection, having been sent from a Hong Kong address to a residence in Cleveland.
CBP did not specify whether or not the Hong Kong sending address of the shipment seized Tuesday was the same as the one from Monday’s seizures.
Inside the package sent to Ohio, officers found a total of 1,367 counterfeit pendants for a number of luxury brands and two MLB teams. If the pendants had been real, they would have fetched $710,295.
The breakdown of fraudulent fashion accessories was:
— 537 fake Chanel pendants.
— 245 fake Gucci pendants
— 155 fake Dior pendants.
— 155 fake Louis Vuitton pendants.
— 75 fake Fendi pendants.
— 66 fake Versace pendants.
— 60 fake Yves Saint Laurent pendants.
— 40 fake Tiffany & Company pendants.
— 20 fake Givenchy pendants.
— 20 fake Dolce & Gabbana pendants
— 10 fake MCM pendants.
— 10 fake New York Yankees pendants.
— 10 fake Los Angeles Dodgers pendants.
“No one buys a luxury brand piece of jewelry expecting it to fail or fall apart. 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,” CBP Louisville Port Director Thomas Mahn said.