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From Dec. 1-7, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers in the Cincinnati office, located adjacent to the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky Airport in Erlanger, intercepted 11 counterfeit jewelry shipments, just before the holidays.

If the 11 shipments—which came from India, Hong Kong, and Indonesia—had all been genuine, the merchandise would have been worth more than $6.96 million.

On Dec. 1, officers seized a shipment containing 783 pieces of counterfeit jewelry.  It originated in Hong Kong and contained bracelets, earrings, and necklaces displaying the logos of Fendi, Versace, Cartier, Christian Dior, and Tiffany & Co.  The shipment was destined to a residential address in North Carolina. Based on the cheap generic packaging, lack of intricate details, and routing led to the seizure of this shipment by officers in Cincinnati.  Had this high-end jewelry been authentic, the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) would have been $992,046.

The next day, enforcement efforts led to the seizure of 60 sets of jewelry originating in Hong Kong including designers such as Cartier, Michael Kors, Tory Burch, and Gucci. The day after that, officers opened a box from Indonesia containing one Audemars Piguet watch lacking the fine details needed to be genuine.  Both shipments were headed to private residences in North Carolina and Maryland.

On Dec. 6, officers inspecting freight discovered six more shipments containing counterfeit merchandise. One of the shipments included 650 pieces of phony Van Cleef earrings, bracelets, and necklaces with an MSRP of over $1.7 million.  Another box contained 102 Rolex watches with matching boxes, along with 20 Gucci belts totaling over $3 million, had the watches and belts been genuine. Another four shipments were intercepted including one Franck Muller watch, one Cartier watch, one Tissot watch, and 5 Apple watches.

Lastly, on Dec. 7, two more shipments of various fake merchandise were seized. One held a mixture of counterfeit jewelry and headbands with the logos of Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Van Cleef, Dior, and even Mickey Mouse.  The last shipment was loaded with 125 counterfeit watches displaying logos of Adidas, Coach, Tous, Gucci, and Rolex.

“CBP protects legitimate trade practices and recommends shoppers purchase their holiday gifts from reputable websites and businesses,” said Cincinnati Port Director Alrick Brooks. “With the influx in e-commerce, purchasing gifts online can be misleading through third-party sites. We encourage you to be aware and report any suspicious illegal trade activity.”