$55K In Fake Air Jordan Shoes Seized At Dulles Airport

STERLING, VA – Customs officers at Washington Dulles International Airport recently seized about $55,000 worth of counterfeit Nike Air Jordan shoes headed to Alexandria from China. The cargo of sneakers arrived in seven parcels on Dec. 15 from China, and were destined to the same address in Alexandria address, authorities said. Law officers completed the seizure last week of 400 pairs of various models of the shoes, which would have sold for $54,715 if they were authentic.

Imports are routinely inspected and customs officers suspected the sneakers were counterfeit. Officers working with CBP’s Consumer Products and Mass Merchandising Centers for Excellence and Expertise, the agency’s trade experts, verified the sneakers as counterfeits through the trademark holder.

“Customs and Border Protection will continue to work closely with our trade and consumer safety partners to seize counterfeit and inferior merchandise, especially those products that pose potential harm to American consumers, negatively impact legitimate business brand reputations, and potentially steal jobs from U.S. workers,” said Daniel Mattina, CBP Acting Port Director for Washington, D.C., in a news release.

Customs officials have made copyright enforcement a priority trade issue, and a record number of goods that violated federal intellectual property rights were seized in fiscal year 2016. Authorities say buying counterfeit and pirated goods costs American jobs and supports criminal activity.

The number of IPR seizures increased 9 percent in fiscal year 2016 to more than 31,560. The total estimated manufacturer’s suggested retail price of the seized goods, had they been genuine, was more than $1.38 billion. As a result of the enforcement efforts, ICE Homeland Security Investigations agents arrested 451 people, obtained 304 indictments, and received 272 convictions related to intellectual property crimes in the past year.

On a typical day in 2016, CBP officers seized $3.8 million worth of products with copyright violations.

“The theft of intellectual property and the trade in substandard and often dangerous goods threatens America’s innovation economy and consumer health and safety, and it generates proceeds that fund criminal activities and organized crime,” said Casey Owen Durst, CBP’s Field Operations Director in Baltimore, in a press release. “Intellectual property rights enforcement is a Customs and Border Protection priority trade issue, and a mission that we take seriously.”

Images of seized Air Jordans courtesy of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection office at Dulles Airport