The United States Customs and Border Protection officers have seized 1,500 counterfeit Hermes handbags at the Long Beach port complex, March 5. The bags that arrived in a shipment from China in February were in transit to Mexico.
The bags bear fake Hermes trademark and if these bags had been genuine, they would have been worth $14 million, according to a statement by the customs agency.
"The companies that were to receive the goods have been warned, but criminal charges typically are pursued only for repeat offenders," Jaime Ruiz, the agency spokesperson told LA Times.
Fake products bearing trademarks of luxury brands are a common affair these days and have seen a rise of about 142 percent, just in 2012. Last year bags worth $511 million (approx) were seized and most of the fake pieces came from China and carried the trademark of Hermes and Fendi. Majority of the counterfeit products are said to originate in countries like Taiwan, Hongkong, India, Singapore and China.
Ruiz also revealed that while some customers might buy these products online without knowing their authenticity, most of the customers know that they are fake.
Various other products have been seized by the officials in the past that include fake Louboutin heels as well as sunglasses that bear trademarks like Gucci and Armani. Ruiz believes that the fake products are a waste of money and resources and don't benefit anyone.
"The money you don't pay to the trademark holder is money that goes from your pocket to the pocket of some guy in Asia who's going to use that money to hire child labor and continue doing his business," Ruiz added. "Nobody wins. People believe buying counterfeit is win-win, but nobody wins.