5 held as Hong Kong customs seizes HK$22 million worth of fake luxury goods with Hermes, Chanel, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Prada among big names pirated
- Nearly 80,000 counterfeit products seized in operation were destined for various countries including the US, Britain, India and United Arab Emirates, Post learns
- Items seized include handbags, high-heeled shoes, fashion accessories, sunglasses and watches
Hong Kong customs officers have confiscated HK$22 million (US$2.8 million) worth of fake brand-name products ranging from high-heeled shoes to watches and arrested five people in a two-week citywide operation.
An investigation suggests most of the nearly 80,000 counterfeit products seized in the operation were destined for countries such as the United States, Britain, Germany, Czech Republic, India, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates, the Post has learned.
Items seized by officers from customs’ intellectual property investigation bureau between April 26 and Monday included handbags, high-heeled and sports shoes, fashion accessories, sunglasses, watches and mobile phone accessories.
The fakes replicated well-known brand names such as Patek Philippe, Rolex, Hermes, Chanel, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Prada and Nike. They were smuggled into the city from neighbouring areas and Asian countries by air and sea.
About 9,000 knock-off watches worth HK$10 million in total were seized in the operation, code-named “Tracer 2”. More than half of them were bound for India and most of the rest for Dubai. The fake watches could each have been sold for between HK$5,000 and HK$10,000 overseas.
Assistant Superintendent Sky Fung Wai-ching of the bureau said it was the biggest seizure of counterfeit watches in a single operation in recent years.
He said most of the 80,000 products were seized in 12 “devanning areas” of logistics companies in Kwai Chung, Tsing Yi and Yuen Long in the operation, which aimed to combat counterfeit goods activities involving cross-boundary transshipment and local delivery.