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CBP seizes fake Nikes, handbags at SoCal port

CBP seizes fake Nikes, handbags at SoCal port

Federal agents seized a half-dozen cargo containers at the Port of Los Angeles loaded with fake Nike shoes and designer handbags that could have reaped smugglers tens of millions of dollars on the street.

   U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers discovered the fake goods last week in six containers that were being imported from China and being shipped to undisclosed locations in Los Angeles and Orange counties. The containers, targeted by CBP agents before arrival at the port, were found to contain 28,784 pairs of counterfeit Nike athletic shoes and 78,460 handbags bearing counterfeit trademarks of several famous brands.

   The federal agency estimated that the value of the counterfeit goods, if sold as real, would have been over $32 million. The actual value of the goods was estimated to be just under $2 million.

   'CBP maintains a very aggressive program to intercept shipments containing commodities which violate any laws of the United States,' said Kevin W. Weeks, director of CBP Los Angeles office of field operations.