Who knew Florida was bootleg-central? On Friday at Miami Seaport, Customs and Border Patrol agents swooped down on a shipment of knockoff designer merchandise. The retail value of the bootleg Gucci and Coach handbags is approximately $4.9 million. In a separate but related event yesterday, authorities also seized 860 fake Ray-Ban sunglasses in Tampa Bay with a reported retail value of $123,455.
The thirst for designer accessories is real. Combined, these two busts total over $5 million in bootlegged goods. While that may appear like a mere nibble out of the $28 billion counterfeit racket, that’s still a lot of product that’s never going to see the light of day. That is, unless the cops start deciding to accessories a little more.
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