US officials uncover a vast Manhattan counterfeit goods organization in a historic bust, seizing designer knockoffs valued at over $1 billion. In this massive crackdown, two people are charged.
Federal prosecutors announced that they had charged two people with trafficking in counterfeit goods following the largest-ever seizure of fake designer handbags, shoes, and other items in US history—items with a retail value estimated at over $1 billion. It’s a pretty big enterprise.
On Wednesday, the US authorities announced the “largest ever seizure of counterfeit goods in US history,” which included an astounding 219,000 counterfeit handbags, shoes, garments, and other items. This revelation helped to clarify the precise scope of the problem.
Adama Sow, 38, and Abdulai Jallow, 48, were charged by prosecutors in a statement with running the illegal business out of a storage facility in Manhattan. On Wednesday, the indictments against them were made public in New York.
According to the statement, more than 50,000 copycat goods were found on Manhattan resident Jallow’s property, and more than 83,000 knockoff goods were taken from Sow’s, a Queens resident, property. If proven guilty, they might go to prison for up to ten years.
Federal prosecutor Damian Williams stated, “The seizures announced today consist of merchandise with over $1 billion in estimated retail value, the largest-ever seizure of counterfeit goods in US history.”
Images obtained inside the warehouse where the products were stored showed a large number of purses, backpacks, wallets, duffel bags, and sunglasses emblazoned with the logos of high-end labels including Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs, Christian Dior, Gucci, Burberry, and Hermès stacked onto metal shelves.
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Two guys have been accused with trafficking in counterfeit goods.
Photographs released by the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York showed warehouse rooms filled to capacity with counterfeit designer handbags, clothing, purses, and shoes.
In one image, merchandise crates were stacked using shipping pallets.
The police claim that from January until the end of October, Adama Sow, 38, and Abdulai Jalloh, 48, ran a large-scale network of fake goods out of storage facilities in Manhattan.
Commissioner Edward A. Caban of the New York Police Department stated in a statement, “The trafficking of counterfeit goods is anything but a victimless crime because it harms legitimate businesses, governments, and consumers.” According to a statement, both of the men had been arrested on Wednesday.
