Hong Kong seizes record amount of fake luxury goods
Customs and police officers made their biggest seizure of counterfeit products in 10 years when they closed down two fake-goods showrooms and a storage centre in Hong Kong.
Officers believe they have smashed a racket with the seizure of more than 30,000 counterfeit brand-name products and arrest of three people in the joint operation mounted last week.
Investigations showed the syndicate had been operating for about one year and deployed a sales network with a membership scheme in an attempt to evade detection, a customs official said yesterday.
The suspected mastermind, a 37-year-old Pakistani man, was picked up at an immigration control point on Wednesday last week when he returned to Hong Kong from Shenzhen.
Two alleged saleswomen, aged 32 and 35, were detained when officers raided the showrooms in Tsim Sha Tsui and Tsuen Wan on Tuesday and Wednesday last week.
Cheuk Tak-wai, of customs' intellectual property transnational investigation division, said more than 30,000 fake products worth around HK$3 million were confiscated in the showrooms and storage centre. "It is the biggest amount of fake products seized in a single operation in a decade," he said.
The goods, some of them from the mainland, included leather handbags and wallets, sports shoes and watches, perfume and sunglasses bearing around 30 famous brand names. Cheuk said the items were not aimed at the tourist market.
Wong Yim-pui, head of customs' intellectual property investigation group, said the quality of goods was poor and the fakes were sold for one-tenth the price of the genuine products.
'To avoid detection, the syndicate established a sales network with a membership scheme," he said. "Only members were allowed to visit the showrooms that were filled with a variety of fake goods."
He said police and customs officers raided the three locations and made the arrests in a matter of days. The three suspects have been released on bail pending further investigation.
Cheuk said the Customs and Excise Department would continue to maintain its close liaison with the police to combat the import and sale of counterfeit goods in Hong Kong.
