Chinese police arrest 73 for manufacturing fake designer bags
November 20, 2012
Chinese police recently arrested 73 people for manufacturing and exporting fake brand name purses such as Hermes, Louis Vuitton and Coach, according to Reuters. In addition, the police took more than 20,000 bags and terminated nearly 37 illegals sites that were being used to make these accessories. It is believed that the group of people who were running it had sold and made more than 960,000 fake bags.
Officials had first started to investigate the ring in January, which was continually producing thousands upon thousands of bags. It is believed that the 20,000 that was confiscated was fake Louis Vuitton bags. Soon after officials caught wind of the ring, they brought on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to help investigate and they eventually were able to shut the operation down, the media outlet reports.
According to The Telegraph, the illegal sites were in the Guangdong province in southern China, and there was enough machinery and raw materials to make more than 50,000 bags. It is believed that the worth of what was investigated is about $820 million.
President of the International Anticounterfeiting Coalition, Bob Barchiesi, still considers China to be "the counterfeit workshop of the world."
"It is still rampant and much more challenging now because the counterfeiters have changed the way they have done business on the Internet and with virtual warehouses, shipping many more and smaller shipments to the U.S., which makes it more difficult for Customs officials to intercept the shipments," he added to the news source.
Those who want to talk about the recent arrest can make calls to China using international calling cards.