Suspected fake Burberry leather products with a retail value of HK$5 million have been confiscated by customs officers in 17 chain stores and the offices of two companies in a crackdown on the sale of fake goods.
Undercover agents posing as shoppers were told that the leather products were made in Britain, but investigations determined they were made on the mainland, a senior customs officer said.
In what the sellers termed a 'crazy sale', the goods were discounted 70 per cent in an attempt to attract customers, said Koon Hon-chuen, head of customs' Trade Descriptions Investigation Division.
Twenty-six people, including the director of one of the two companies, were arrested in the operation on Tuesday. Officers are looking for the two directors of the other company, who are out of Hong Kong.
During the operation, officers seized 4,500 suspected counterfeit Burberry leather items. The seized products, including wallets and handbags, were printed with the brand's signature chequered pattern, but without the brand name.
Koon said they infringed copyright even without the name.
'The chequered pattern has been registered as the trademark. The seizure infringes the right of the trademark's owner,' he said.