‘Treasure hunt’ raid finds Gucci fakes and more

New York police officers have uncovered thousands of counterfeit Gucci, Ralph Lauren, Burberry and other branded clothes worth up to $2.2 million.

According to the Queens County District Attorney’s office, which helped to conduct the raid alongside Homeland Security Investigations, the counterfeits were stored at and sold from separate addresses in the Jamaica and Queens areas of New York.

Handbags, gloves, wallets, watches and other items bearing the logos of other designers, including Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Prada, were also seized.

In total, nearly 13,000 items were taken from the two storage areas in a police task dubbed Operation Treasure Hunt, on December 10.

The seven arrested were Naqing Zhang and his wife Wei Wei Dong; Chin Chu and his wife Jian Xia; Sai Chen; Wei Liao; and Pizhong Zhou.

They were held at Queens Criminal Court in New York and charged with second-degree counterfeiting. If convicted, they could each face up to four years in prison.

District attorney Richard Brown said counterfeiting was not a victimless crime.

“Counterfeit operations like the ones discovered as a result of this investigation fuel an underground economy. They are cash businesses that pay no taxes, damage the reputations of reputable brand owners and lower consumer confidence in the name brands by foisting inferior products into the marketplace,” Brown added.

In the run up to Christmas several counterfeit raids have taken place around the world.

In the UK, thousands of counterfeit Christmas toys were seized at the port of Dover and, earlier this week, a shop in the US city of Detroit was shut down after it was found to be selling large quantities of counterfeit items.