10,000 suspected fake football jerseys seized in HK$64 million customs crackdown

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.

The operation cracked down on 37 cases between March 9 and 27 involving cross-boundary transshipment and local delivery, 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 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.