Can you spot a fake?
Some US Customs and Border Protection officers did -- in September, they intercepted a shipment of over over 9,000 counterfeit Nike sneakers in New York, the agency said in a news release.
The shipment of shoes had come from China and was headed to California, when CBP officers inspected it at the Port of New York/Newark.
They thought something looked off about the shoes, and submitted images to the CBP's Apparel Footwear and Textiles Center for Excellence and Expertise, the agency's trade experts.
On Thursday, the agency concluded the shoes were counterfeit and seized them. Real versions of the sneakers would have been worth nearly $1.7 million, according to CBP.
"This significant seizure of counterfeit Nike sneakers illustrates Customs and Border Protection's continued commitment to protecting the American consumer against the proliferation of substandard and potentially unsafe counterfeit consumer goods," stated Troy Miller, Director of CBP's New York Field Office, said in a statement Tuesday.
On a typical day in 2017, CBP seized $3.3 million worth of products with Intellectual Property Rights violations in a day, according to the agency.
"Enforcing Intellectual Property Rights laws is a CBP priority trade mission," said Miller. "We will continue to work closely with our trade and law enforcement partners to identify and seize counterfeit merchandise that could potentially harm US consumers and businesses."
