Border agents seize over 300 pieces of counterfeit jewelry at MSP
A counterfeit piece of Gucci jewelry intercepted by CBP officers at MSP on April 2, 2024. (CBP)
Federal authorities say they recently intercepted and seized a shipment of more than 300 pieces of counterfeit jewelry at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) says its officers at the airport’s express consignment facility flagged the shipment Tuesday.
The package, which arrived from Hong Kong and was headed to Hutchinson, had 364 pieces of jewelry bearing the trademarks of brands like Gucci, Cartier, Hermes, Louis Vuitton and Chanel, CBP says.
Looking closer, CBP officers determined the items had counterfeit marks and were really poor-quality items.
If they were real products, CBP says they would’ve retailed for more than $482,000.
“This just goes to show you how criminals are using express consignment facilities to ship their items to unsuspecting consumers damaging our economy,” LaFonda D. Sutton-Burke, the field operations director in CBP’s Chicago field office, said.
The agency says its officers seized 19,522 shipments with nearly 23 million counterfeit items in the last fiscal year.