Customs Seizes Hundreds of Fake Rolex, Cartier Watches
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U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in Louisville, Kentucky, recently seized three shipments of fake accessories.
Louisville, Ky.—U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers in Louisville, Kentucky, recently seized three shipments of counterfeit items that included jewelry.
Combined, the goods would have been worth more than $18.6 million if genuine.
The first two shipments arrived from Hong Kong on Dec. 5. One shipment was heading to a residence on Staten Island, New York, and the other was heading to Irving, Texas.
Officers found hundreds of counterfeit items in the first parcel, including 400 Cartier watches, 26 Moncler hats, and 30 Chrome Hearts hats.
In the second parcel, they found more fake goods, including eight Cartier watches and 13 Audemars Piguet watches.
On Dec. 8, officers inspected a parcel from Taiwan that was headed to Houston.
In that shipment, they discovered more counterfeit watches, including 80 Rolex Cosmograph watches and 80 Rolex Day Date watches.
CBP’s Centers of Excellence and Expertise, the agency’s trade experts, determined the items were fakes and violated the federally protected trademarks of Cartier, Audemars Piguet, Moncler, Chrome Hearts, and Rolex.
CBP noted that consumers should purchase items from reputable retailers and remain cautious of deals that seem too good to be true while shopping.
“During the holiday shopping season, it is important to remain aware that criminals try to scam shoppers into buying low quality and potentially dangerous counterfeit items,” said LaFonda D. Sutton-Burke, director of field operations at CBP’s Chicago field office.
“Our officers do an incredible job targeting shipments and identifying these violations, working tirelessly every day to protect the consumer and our economy.”
In fiscal year 2025, CBP seized nearly 79 million counterfeit items that, if genuine, would have had a combined value of more than $7.3 billion.
Counterfeit clothing, consumer electronics, toys, and medications were among the top seized items, the agency said.