On Sept. 22, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers discovered 1,200 inferior-quality counterfeit Tiffany & Co. bracelets at Miami International Airport.
The shipment with the fake jewelry arrived from China. If genuine, the jewelry would equal $2.85 million.
The bracelets aroused inspectors’ suspicions because they “did not appear to be of the quality consistent with the products normally manufactured by the trademark holders,” according to a CBP release issued on Oct. 27. A further look confirmed they were fakes.
This is the CBP’s second major fake-jewelry seizure this year. In July, it seized 720 pieces of fake Van Cleef & Arpels jewelry.
In 2014, the watch and jewelry category topped the CBP’s list of seized counterfeit items by value, dethroning the usual No. 1: handbags and wallets.
(Photo courtesy of U.S. Customs and Border Protection)
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