It was” the largest-ever seizure of counterfeit goods in US history” when federal prosecutors detained two men on Wednesday and seized more than 200,000 fake handbags, clothing, and other luxury items worth$ 1.03 billion.
This year saw the release of Adama Sow and Abdulaj Jalloh’s charges, which revealed both gentlemen had been charged with trafficking in counterfeit products.
In a statement, US lawyer Damian Williams claimed that” the accused used d’a Manhattan storage facility for large amounts of knock-off custom products.” The spasms announced now include the largest-ever seizure of counterfeit items in US history, consisting of products with an estimated retail value of over a billion dollars.
Pig, 38, and Jalloh, 48, both from Queens and Manhattan, New York, each face a maximum prison term of ten times.
The “large-scale goods smuggling operations” of Sow and Jalloh were carried out out of a backup facility in Manhattan, and he also trafficked through an off-site place in the same city. Jalloh’s offsite resulted in the seizure of “over 50, 000 counterfeit items” valued at over$ 237m, while the storage unit was taken along with 83,000 items worth more than$ 502m.
Numerous bags, clothes, and other items were shown in boxes or even seen strewn over ceiling pipes in photos of the areas that were shared with Williams ‘ statement.
The findings were praised by Ivan Arvelo, special agent in charge of country security investigations, who said they “understood the unwavering dedication of HSI New York in the fight against intellectual property theft and serves as a testament to the passion of our staff and partner agencies, which have diligently pursued justice, culminating in this kind of seizure.”
It was “heartening to see the US lawyer take this daring action and protect clothing brands ‘ Internet rights,” said Douglas Hand, a style attorney and partner at Hand Baldachin & AssociatesLLP.
Importantly, it is forbidden in the US to buy fake merchandise or import them into the nation. According to US customs and border control, doing but” could result in civil or criminal penalties and purchasing counterfeit goods frequently supports legal activities, such as forced labour or human trafficking.”
The counterfeit market is a” significant problem not only for luxury fashion brands and the dilution of their trademarks ‘ values, but also for consumers and society at large as many counterfeit products are produced in oppressive labor environments and without any adherence to ecological production methods ( if implemented by brands ),” according to Hand.