Officials with local and federal law enforcement agencies on Thursday showed off the results of a massive counterfeit goods seizure operation that brought in a quarter of a million dollars worth of knockoff goods in South Florida and even more across the county, said Carmen Pino, Acting Deputy Special Agent in Charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement-Homeland Security Investigations.
"With our federal, state, local and international partners, we seized close to $80 million in counterfeit goods," Pino said.
Operation Holiday Hoax II, led by Homeland Security Investigations and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, targeted counterfeit goods in 66 U.S. cities, South Korea and Mexico.
The operation targeted stores and flea markets and led to the seizure of some 327,000 items overall and 2,800 items in South Florida, officials with ICE and HSI said Thursday.
Locally, the Broward Sheriff's Office's Economic Crimes Division took part in at least two raids on places selling counterfeit and pirated products.
Items included purses, watches, cell phone covers and chargers and a variety of clothing. The items will all be destroyed, and are not worth keeping.
"All of these items are made in very substandard conditions with substandard parts. They can be a health hazard, they can have lead paint. They can have batteries that can corrode," Special Agent Pino pointed out. The operation began in November and ended last Friday, Dec. 16. So far, 33 people have been charged with trafficking in counterfeit goods.
Officials warned the public to be vigilant about what they buy, cautioning that if a deal is too good to be true, it probably is.
"At these local flea markets, these [knockoff handbags] would sell for, you know, 50 or 60 bucks. So, it's a fraction of the cost, but once again, you're getting a fraction of the quality," said Assistant Special Agent in Charge of ICE-HSI Gerard O'Neill, while clutching a fake Louis Vuitton purse.
They added that in many cases, the knockoff goods are of an inferior quality and could contain dangerous or toxic materials, and their sale helps finance organized crime across the globe.
