(IDEX Online) - Two shipments of counterfeit jewelry, including hundreds of fake Cartier and Hermes items, have been seized by customs officers as they entered the US from China.
The total haul would have been worth almost $3.2m if genuine.
The shipments, intercepted in Cincinnati, Ohio, were were headed to private residences in Jeffersonville, Indiana, and Miami Beach, Florida, according to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) statement.
One contained 543 bracelets and rings labeled as Cartier. In the other were 191 bracelets, rings, and earrings with Cartier and Hermes emblems.
Experts at CBP's Centers for Excellence and Expertise determined that all the seized items were counterfeit.
"Counterfeit and pirated goods dampen our economic successes, fund criminal networks, and threaten consumer trust and safety," said Cincinnati Port director Richard Gillespie.
Source: IDEX 4-5-2021