US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers have intercepted hundreds of pairs of Nike Air Jordan sneakers that arrived at Dulles International Airport in Virginia.
The 400 pairs of various versions of the trainers arrived at the airport on 15 December from China, and would have been worth nearly $55,000 if sold at the manufacturer’s recommended retail price.
In a statement, the CBP said officials from its Consumer Products and Mass Merchandising Centers for Excellence and Expertise examined the sneakers after suspecting they may be fake.
They were then able to verify the trainers as counterfeit following consultation with the trademark holder.
“Customs and Border Protection will continue to work closely with our trade and consumer safety partners to seize counterfeit and inferior merchandise, especially those products that pose potential harm to American consumers, negatively impact legitimate business brand reputations, and potentially steal jobs from US workers,” commented Daniel Mattina, CBP Acting Port Director for the Area Port of Washington DC.
Nike Air Jordan sneakers, which are named after the retired basketball player Michael Jordan, typically retail for well in excess of $100, and have remained popular since they were first introduced in the 1980s.
Such is the ongoing success of the brand, large queues often form when a new version of the sports footwear is released, where people have been known to enter into fights over their position.
The trainers are widely faked, with bogus versions being offered regularly on internet auction platforms such as eBay, despite the companies behind these sites making efforts to take down listings for bogus items.
Consumers keen to avoid buying fake Nike Air Jordan sneakers should be wary of deals that appear too good to be true and examine any trainers they are considering purchasing carefully.
Buyers should look out for a label on the side of the sneakers’ box that details style name and number, size and colour, and country of production.
Commenting on counterfeiting more generally, Casey Owen Durst, the CBP’s Field Operations Director in Baltimore, said: “The theft of intellectual property and the trade in substandard and often dangerous goods threatens America’s innovation economy and consumer health and safety, and it generates proceeds that fund criminal activities and organised crime.
“Intellectual property rights enforcement is a Customs and Border Protection priority trade issue, and a mission that we take seriously.”
As well as funding gangs that are involved in other illicit trades such as drug trafficking and people smuggling, fake consumer goods also provide cash for terrorist organisations such as Hezbollah, al-Qa’ida and the IRA.
It is believed the terrorists responsible for the 2015 Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris partly funded their attack by selling counterfeit luxury goods on the streets of the city.
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