On Thursday, May 1, the Chicago field office of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced that a large quantity of counterfeit luxury brand watches and fake driver’s licenses from China and Hong Kong were found in 485 shipments.
According to a press release issued by the CBP, the agency confirmed that the 516 watches seized were counterfeit products, encompassing brands such as Rolex, Patek Philippe, Cartier, Omega, and more. If authentic, the total value would exceed $9.22 million.
LaFonda D. Sutton-Burke, Director of the Chicago field office, stated that “Intellectual property theft threatens the economic vitality of the United States and provides funds for criminal activities and organized crime. Our employees are dedicated to protecting private enterprises and consumers by removing such goods from commercial circulation.”
The trade of counterfeit and pirated goods poses a threat to the innovative economy, corporate competitiveness, the livelihood of American workers, and in some cases, national security and consumer health and safety.
American consumers spend over $100 billion annually on counterfeit goods, accounting for approximately 20% of global illicit sales of counterfeit products. U.S. officials point out that 70-80% of counterfeit goods come from mainland China and Hong Kong.
To combat the influx of counterfeit and pirated goods into the U.S., CBP targets and seizes counterfeit and pirated goods upon importation, and enforces exclusion orders for goods that violate patent and other intellectual property rights.
Meanwhile, in April, CBP intercepted a significant number of fake driver’s licenses— a total of 4,345 counterfeit licenses in 340 shipments, intended for distribution across the United States.
Michael Pfeiffer, Director of the Port of Chicago, warned that “These fake driver’s licenses could have catastrophic consequences. Foreign terrorist organizations, criminal syndicates, and fraudsters use these forged documents to disguise their illegal activities. Our CBP personnel successfully identified these extremely realistic fake credentials and prevented them from reaching their destination.”
Currently, only two companies, the American Automobile Association (AAA) and the American Automobile Touring Alliance (AATA), are authorized by the U.S. Department of State to print international driver’s licenses in the United States.