Nearly $4.6M in fake jewelry seized in Kentucky

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in Kentucky recently seized three packages within a 24-hour period containing a wide array of jewelry with an estimated value of nearly $4.6 million, had the items been genuine.

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The trio of interceptions began Tuesday at the Express Consignment Operation hub in Louisville, with a shipment en route from Hong Kong to a residence in Ontario, Canada. In the first shipment, inspectors discovered more than three dozen counterfeit watches – including 29 Rolex watches – that would have been worth a combined $1.11 million, the agency stated in a news release.

The following night, officers seized two packages containing counterfeit merchandise.

The first shipment contained 1,034 fake jewelry items that would have been worth an estimated $1.2 million, including the following:

• 554 Tommy Hilfiger necklaces
• 60 Rolex bracelet and ring combinations
• 60 Bvlgari bracelet and ring combination
• 60 Louis Vuitton bracelet and ring combinations
• 60 Cartier bracelet and ring combinations
• 60 Versace bracelet and ring combinations
• 60 Hermes bracelet and ring combinations
• 120 Gucci bracelet and ring combinations

According to the agency, the shipment originated in Hong Kong and was en route to a business in Miami, Florida.

Later that same night, CBP officers found a parcel containing a single Richard Mille watch that, had it been genuine, would have been worth more than $2.25 million, the agency stated.

“CBP is responsible for enforcing nearly 500 U.S. trade laws and regulations on behalf of 49 other federal agencies. CBP officers play a critical role in the nation’s efforts to keep unsafe counterfeit and pirated goods from harming the American public,” LaFonda D. Sutton-Burke, director of field operations for the agency’s Chicago Field Office, said in a prepared statement.

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