FAKE JEWELRY SEIZED WORTH MILLIONS OF EUROS
At Leipzig Airport, customs officials seized counterfeit jewelry worth about 6 million euros, as authorities released in March. The officials discovered the fakes at the end of February in an airfreight shipment that originated from Hong Kong and was destined for a private recipient in the United Kingdom. The officials confiscated about 500 fake bangles and bracelets as well as about 650 rings. The articles and/or their packaging illicitly bore the brand names and logos of two well-known luxury goods manufacturers. The brand holders have confirmed the infringements of their IP rights.
HUNDREDS OF FAKES FOUND IN TRUCKS FROM TURKEY
Officials at the customs office Bad Reichenhall-Autobahn stopped two trucks from Turkey with approx. 1,400 parcels of counterfeit goods. The action already took place back in December last year, and information on the case has just recently been released. The vehicles had declared an unusual variety of goods, which the officials examined more closely due to irregularities in the papers. With the help of reinforcements from other customs offices, the import was processed for months. Eventually, the officers established that one truck had transported around 350 parcels of many fake goods, while the other truck had carried well over 1,000 parcels with numerous counterfeits. In the end, the officials confiscated more than 700 fakes from a total of 51 brand owners, including watches, tobacco, pharmaceuticals, as well as electronics that fail to meet European safety requirements.
OVER A THOUSAND FANCY DRESS COSTUMES CONFISCATED
A large quantity of unlicensed costumes has been stopped by customs officials in Hamburg. As released in April, investigators had confiscated the total of around 1,200 Harry Potter costumes back in February. The counterfeit costumes originated from China and were shipped in a total of 28 packages in a container consignment headed for Poland. In the parcels, officials found various items based on the Harry Potter universe, including accessories such as the well-known schoolhouse robes, corresponding uniforms and neckties, and other objects of Harry Potter motifs.
COUNTERFEITS, DRUGS DISCOVERED IN HAMBURG KIOSK
Officials from Hamburg’s main customs office and the police uncovered around 900 counterfeit items in a convenience store in April. The officers were actually conducting a routine tax inspection in the corner shop, when they found hundreds of suspicious items of clothing from well-known manufacturers in a back room, including shoes, jackets, and T-shirts. The officers recognized these as potential counterfeits and seized the suspicious items. A further search of the premises also uncovered drugs hidden in plastic bags as well as fake vaccination certificates. The investigation is ongoing.
