U.S Customs Seize $10.1 Million USD Worth of Counterfeit Rolex Watches
460 fake watches were headed to New York from Hong Kong.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection department has just announced that over 460 counterfeit Rolex watches have been seized in Cincinnati. The watches were arriving from Hong Kong where they were set to eventually make their way to Brooklyn, New York. The value of the watches, had they been genuine, is estimated to fall close to $10.1 million USD.
“No one buys a luxury brand watch expecting it to fail or fall apart. As consumers increasingly purchase from online or third-party vendors, our officers are at the frontline to guard against defrauders expecting to make money selling fake merchandise. This is just another example of the work our officers do to protect consumers and the U.S. economy,” said Jeremy Brodsky, Port Director-Indianapolis. “Our officers are at the frontline protecting the U.S. economy and guarding against criminals making money by selling fake merchandise.”
The CBP has also noted that there has been a 152% increase in shipments with IPR violations from FY2020 to FY2021 — valued at over $3.3 billion USD. Read the full announcement over at CBP.
In other watch news, IWC drops Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One team chronograph.
