Customs agents in Louisville seize $14 million worth of fake designer jewelry

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in Louisville seized more than 1,600 pieces of counterfeit designer jewelry in a single shipment earlier this month.

The shipment would have had a combined retail price of over $14 million, if the goods had been genuine, according to CBP officials.

The shipment, which arrived from Hong Kong and was headed to Chicago, contained bracelets and necklaces which appeared identical to well-known luxury jewelry brands such as Cartier, Tiffany, and Van Cleef and Arpels. Although the pieces were almost exact replicas of their famous brands’ designs, CBP officers suspected the jewelry pieces to be counterfeit and detained them for further review.

CBP’s trade experts worked with the trademark holders and verified that the products were in fact not authentic and were subject to seizure pursuant to CBP’s statutory and regulatory authorities.

U.S. consumers spend more than $100 billion every year on intellectual property rights infringing goods, falling victim to approximately 20% of the counterfeits that are illegally sold worldwide.