MEMPHIS, Tenn. — U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers in Memphis, working from information given by the Gwinnett Police Department in Georgia, seized two shipments of various counterfeit luxury goods, including Louis Vuitton totes and purses.
While the goods in these two seizures totaled $1,066,207 if they'd been real, they led local investigators to a couple's illegitimate counterfeit goods business and an inventory worth $15,896,061, the agency said.
On Sept. 28, 2021, CBP officers in Memphis examined the shipments from Chihuahua, Mexico to a home in Lawrenceville, Ga.
The first shipment included 19 Rolex Submariner watches, 15 Rolex Yacht Master watches, 10 Rolex Sky Dweller watches, 10 Rolex Date Just watches, 3 Rolex Daytona watches, 2 Rolex Oyster Perpetual Watches, 5 Chanel sunglasses, 2 Versace sunglasses, and 1 Louis Vuitton duffel bag.
The second shipment contained 20 Louis Vuitton tote bags.
The items were then turned over to Homeland Security investigators, who continued their investigation with Gwinnett County.
“Counterfeit goods are poor quality products that cost U.S. businesses billions of dollars a year while robbing our country of jobs and tax revenues,” said Michael Neipert, Memphis Area Port Director. “According to the arrested sellers, their customers knew they were buying counterfeits, which is maddening. Why would you want to walk around with a fake $18 Louis Vuitton tote, $1,522 cheaper than an original. That’s uncouth. It diminishes the original product.”
Gwinnett Police Department investigators later found over 9,000 counterfeit items worth over $15 million at a business in Lawrenceville in November 2021.
Two people, a 31-year-old woman and a 33-year-old man from Lawrenceville, were arrested and charged with possession and sale of goods bearing a counterfeit trademark.
They are both out on bond.
