Counterfeit lanterns and toys seized by customs ahead of Mid-Autumn Festival
Fake goods were mixed with genuine ones to dupe shoppers into purchasing fakes at nine stores across Hong Kong
With the Mid-Autumn Festival looming, Hong Kong Customs has confiscated more than 1,400 falsely-branded lanterns, toys and items of stationery with a combined value of HK$48,000 in a city-wide operation against the sale of counterfeit goods.
Twelve Hongkongers aged from 31 to 67 were rounded up when about 100 customs officers were deployed to raid nine shops and hawker stalls on Tuesday. The five men and seven women were five salespeople and seven owners of the shops and stalls, according to the Customs and Excise Department.-
The retail outlets were in Central, Sheung Wan, Sham Shui Po, Yuen Long and Tin Shui Wai, according to Guy Fong Wing-kai, head of the Intellectual Property Investigation (Operations) Group.
He said the fake products, which were mainly printed with cartoon characters, were mixed with genuine goods to confuse customers in some of the shops.
“Genuine products were on display for customers to select in the shops. After confirming the transaction, buyers were given the fake items stored in the shelves,” he said.