U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials in Chicago seized over 300 items of counterfeit designer items worth nearly $400,000 on Monday.
The items were found in two parcels from Thailand at O’Hare International Airport, the agency said in a statement.
One package was headed for a home in Tennessee and contained counterfeit watches, earrings, necklaces, sunglasses and other items bearing luxury labels like Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Burberry and Fendi, officials said.
The second was being shipped to a home in Texas and contained fake Gucci, Prada, Christian Dior, Hermes, Yves Saint Laurent, Michael Kors, Tory Burch and Chanel earrings, scarves and belts, officials said.
Had the items been authentic, the retail prices for the products would have been over $398,000, officials said.
Criminal organizations sell counterfeit goods to fund illicit operations, which can include drug trafficking and money laundering, officials said.
The agency said online shopping has made it easier for buyers to be fooled into buying fake products. In the U.S., consumers spend more than $100 billion a year on counterfeit items, officials said.
“As consumers increasingly purchase from online or third-party vendors, our officers are at the front line to guard against defrauders expecting to make money selling fake merchandise,” said LaFonda D. Sutton-Burke, director of field operations at the customs agency’s Chicago field office.
Counterfeit goods are typically sold on third-party e-commerce sites like eBay. Sellers will often use a picture of a genuine item to get shoppers to buy the items, officials said.
Shoppers were urged to look carefully at an online listing for a luxury item before buying, especially if the deal looks too good to be true.
