HONG KONG: Hong Kong customs has seized about 10,000 suspected counterfeit football jerseys and other unlicensed goods worth an estimated HK$64 million (US$8 million) ahead of the World Cup finals in June.
During the 19-day operation code-named “Dawnbreaker”, conducted by the Customs and Excise Department, three people aged 25 to 56 were also arrested on suspicion of violating the Trade Descriptions Ordinance.
Officers established 37 cases between March 9 and 27 involved cross-boundary transshipment and local deliveries, seizing about 110,000 items, including jerseys, perfumes, clothing, earphones and mobile phones. Investigations are under way.
“We believe the syndicates took advantage of the major football tournament to meet the strong demand from local fans by transshipping these counterfeit jerseys to those regions for sale,” said Inspector Wesley Yeung Tit-fung of the department’s intellectual property transnational investigation division.
Among the intercepted batches were about 10,000 suspected unlicensed football jerseys bearing national team crests and designs of countries taking part in the finals of the tournament.
The jerseys, destined for shipment to the Americas, were worth about HK$4 million, Yeung said, adding that their craftsmanship, quality and fidelity were high.
Yeung noted that remote cargo handling sites had become potential hotspots for smuggling counterfeit goods.
“Cargo handling centres in remote parts of the New Territories have recently begun unloading and sorting goods in the early morning, so all cargo is processed and leaves the yard before noon,” Yeung said.
“To more effectively combat criminals using these sites to smuggle unlicensed goods, we launched a three-week special operation targeting illegal imports into Hong Kong, with a particular focus on inspecting high-risk transshipment cargo at various logistics centres.”
Compared with previous cases where most transshipped counterfeit goods went to Europe and the United States, nearly half of the items seized in March were destined for regions such as South America and Africa, the inspector said.
Criminals had shifted from lower-value goods to more upscale items such as watches and mobile phones, he added.
Yeung said the team had also been closely monitoring shifts in demand for various goods driven by major sporting events and global festivities.
The three arrests were made in two cases involving local delivery and transshipment operations carried out by local companies, according to Yeung.
On March 19, customs officers took action against a logistics company in the New Territories that had sent suspected unlicensed wallets and clothing to a warehouse in Kwun Tong.
The warehouse was allegedly operated by an online shopping group, Yeung said. A 56-year-old warehouse worker and a 25-year-old woman who headed the group were arrested.
A week later, officers confiscated about 3,700 items, including perfumes and make-up pouches, from a logistics company in the New Territories and a trading firm in Kwai Chung. A 36-year-old director was arrested.
Yeung urged the public to shop at reputable stores and avoid unnecessary losses from buying unlicensed goods. - South China Morning Post
