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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Counterfeit goods surge into New York

Newhouse The Spokesman-Review

NEWARK, N.J. — It was a ploy veteran customs officers had come across many times on the docks in New York Harbor. While inspecting a refrigerated cargo container, they detected a false wall.

Usually, this meant one thing — there was cocaine being smuggled in a secret compartment. But this time, there was something different in the stash. Hundreds of pairs of counterfeit Nike sneakers.

That recent incident reflected the dramatic increase in seizures of counterfeit and other illegal goods at the port terminals in Newark, Elizabeth and New York City, federal officials said this week.

“We’ve already set a record and we’ve got two months left in the (fiscal) year,” Bill Ferri, U.S. Customs’ branch chief for seaport operations, said Monday.

From Oct. 1 through last week, customs officers in New York Harbor made about 270 seizures of goods worth $63.5 million, officials said. In comparison, in fiscal year 2006, they made about 135 seizures of $42.4 million in goods. In 2005, there were about 70 seizures of goods worth $20.6 million.

By far, counterfeit footwear has been the most common item found by customs officers, accounting for more than half the seizures. Next are handbags, followed by clothing, tobacco and electrical supplies.

Customs officials attributed the surge in counterfeit seizures to the increase in shipments from China and other Asian countries that have track records of producing bogus merchandise. Also, they said, improved intelligence about counterfeiting operations has boosted the number.

At Port Newark Monday, customs officers displayed some recently seized items to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt, who is touring ports as he prepares a federal strategy for improving port safety.

“There are more things going through here than the average American can possibly be aware of,” he said.