Immigration And Customs Enforcement Seizes $260 Million Worth Of Knockoffs

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has had a record-breaking month, seizing more than $260 million worth of counterfeit apparel, accessories and other goods in April, WWD reports:

Clothing and accessories were [...] a big slice of ICE's seizure of an additional $219 million of fake goods in April as part of a long-running investigation and prosecution of an international counterfeit ring with ties in Baltimore, New York, London, Malaysia and China. In late March, federal officials indicted nine defendants and seized an estimated $33 million in counterfeit goods.

Among the knockoffs were fake Nike, Coach, Rolex, Gucci, Polo Ralph Lauren, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Fendi, Cartier, Prada, Burberry, Christian Dior and Ed Hardy items.

On Monday, the 10th anniversary of World Intellectual Property Day, the Justice Department upped the number of officials fighting intellectual property crimes, adding 15 new assistant U.S. attorneys and 20 FBI agents.