Smuggling

Colombian authorities seize counterfeit goods worth $5M

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)-Cartagena reports the seizure of nearly 82,000 counterfeit items including Apple Air Pods, M·A·C cosmetics, Kipling bags and Oakley and Ray-Ban sunglasses that – if genuine – would have a street value of approximately $5 million.

The merchandise was seized after a joint investigation that led authorities to a shipment from China to Colombia that caught the attention of the Colombian National Tax and Customs Directorate (DIAN) and the HSI-Bogota Transnational Criminal Investigative Unit (TCIU).

Cartagena’s Fiscal and Customs Police (POLFA) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Container Security Initiative (CSI) in Cartagena assisted with the examination of the shipment that revealed more than 1,000 units of Apple Air Pods; nearly 800 boxes of M·A·C makeup; over 3,000 Kipling bags; 39,000 pairs of Oakley sunglasses; and 37,800 pairs of Ray-Ban sunglasses.

The investigation was conducted with the cooperation of brand protection experts representing Apple Incorporated, Estee Lauder Cosmetics, Kipling Apparel Corporation, Oakley Incorporated, and Ray-Ban, part of Luxottica Group S.P.A.