More than $1 billion worth of fake handbags, shoes and luxury products have been seized by authorities in New York.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced they had seized approximately 219,000 counterfeit bags, clothes, shoes, and other luxury items from a New York City storage facility.
Per a press release from the attorney’s office, the goods had a total worth of approximately $1.03 billion.
In a statement, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said the bust was a record for “knock-off designer goods.”
U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York
“As alleged, the defendants used a Manhattan storage facility as a distribution center for massive amounts of knock-off designer goods,” Williams said. “The seizures announced today consist of merchandise with over a billion dollars in estimated retail value, the largest-ever seizure of counterfeit goods in U.S. history. This is a testament to the commitment of this Office and its law enforcement partners to combat counterfeit trafficking in New York City.”
According to the release, Adama Sow and Abdulai Jalloh were arrested Wednesday morning and charged with trafficking in counterfeit goods.
The charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
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Authorities said Sow and Jalloh allegedly ran large-scale counterfeit goods trafficking operations out of a storage facility located in Manhattan between January 2023 and Oct. 20, 2023. Jalloh also allegedly trafficked goods out of an offsite location in Manhattan, per the release.
U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York
Photographs of the storage facility released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office show storage units within the facility piled with handbags and shoes. Authorities also released a photo of boxes of counterfeit goods they seized from the storage facility.
NYPD Commissioner Edward A. Caban said in a statement, “The trafficking of counterfeit goods is anything but a victimless crime because it harms legitimate businesses, governments, and consumers.”
“Today’s indictments show how seriously the NYPD and our federal partners take this offense. And we will continue to work hard to hold accountable anyone who seeks to benefit by selling such items on the black market,” he added.
