May 20 (UPI) — U.S. border agents in Texas seized hundreds of thousands of fake Apple USB chargers valued at millions of dollars.
“Criminal networks are using e-commerce to ship their items to unsuspecting consumers and exploit the high volume of cargo processed by CBP,” John Landry, acting area port director for U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s port of Houston and Galveston, said Tuesday in a release.
Authorities did not say when the confiscation took place.
However, seaport trade enforcement agents at CBP’s port in Texas announced it took at least 373,000 counterfeit USB lightning phone chargers out of some 7,460 cartons that displayed the trademarked Apple logo.
Barely a day after Apple unveiled its latest wearable product 10 years ago, counterfeit Apple watches began to pop up on China’s largest online shopping mall and other commerce outlets.
According to Apple company officials and CBP experts, the products in the shipping containers in Texas were confirmed to be counterfeit, and they had an appraised street value of more than $7 million.
Federal officials say its top seized infringed commodities by U.S. border agents over the last three years have been jewelry and watches along with fake handbags and wallets.
On Tuesday, CBP’s Landy said counterfeit activities “negatively impact American legitimate jobs and counterfeiters don’t pay taxes.”
U.S. border officials added that China and Hong Kong are “consistently” the top two sources as nations tied to intellectual property right seizures.
“They hurt innovation by stealing intellectual property from registered trademarks and the counterfeits are often produced under unsanitary labor exploitation conditions,” Landry said.
In fiscal year 2024, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials, seizures from China and Hong Kong accounted for roughly 90% of the total quantity seized.
“Consumers deserve the real deal when spending their hard-earned money on these products,” Landry said.
