NORFOLK, Va. — U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers seized more than $130,000 worth of counterfeit goods at Area Port of Norfolk-Newport News, CBP said.
The goods included infant loungers, children's clothing and backpacks featuring Disney characters.
The circumstances leading up to the seizure began on Sept. 21, when two ships arrived from Instanbul, Turkey. One of the shipments had over 2,500 items that were being sent to an address near Wilmington Delaware, and the other had over 650 items heading to an address near Baltimore.
CBP said officers suspected the goods were counterfeit and detained them to see if they were legitimate or not.
CBP's trade experts at the Apparel, Footwear and Textiles Centers of Excellence and Expertise determined the goods were counterfeit the next day.
Its trade experts figured out the children's items had infringing trademarks and copyrights.
The shipments had mattress covers and infant loungers in them that had counterfeit OKEO-TEX product safety labels, CBP said.
According to the OKEO-TEX website, "STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX® is one of the world's best-known labels for textiles tested for harmful substances. It stands for customer confidence and high product safety."
There were also mosaic lamps with counterfeit Underwriters Laboratories safety labels and backpacks and clothes with Disney and Marvel characters on them that violated copyrights.
According to CBP, if the goods had been authentic, they would have had a total value of $130,786.
The items have all been seized.
Nobody has been criminally charged and the investigation into the situation is ongoing.
In a statement on the situation, CBP said it "strongly encourages consumers to protect their families by purchasing authentic goods from reputable vendors.”
