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

Record 3,000 fake Gibson electric guitars seized through L.A., Long Beach ports, feds say

Jaime Ruiz, spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, looks over some of the counterfeit guitars that were seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, with U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and Gibson Inc., at a news conference to announce the largest seizure of Gibson electric guitars on record at the Centralized Examination Station on Tuesday in Carson, Calif.  (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
By Ruben Vives Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES – More than 3,000 fake Gibson electric guitars have been seized through the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex as part of a multi-agency law enforcement investigation, making it the largest counterfeit musical instrument seizure on record, authorities announced Tuesday.

Africa Bell, port director for the Los Angeles-Long Beach Seaport, provided no details about suspects or details of the case because it remained active but said that the products – worth more than $18 million if they were legitimate – were probably destined for e-commerce.

Several red, black and orange electric guitars sat on stands and rested on tables as U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials announced the seizure during a morning news conference in Carson.

“These guitars you see on display around me and behind me may look real to you, but trust and believe they are not,” Bell said. “They are fraudulent, and they are part of a massive attempt to con the American consumer.”

Bell said while most shipments comply with U.S. importation laws, many do not.

“Finding contraband illicit goods and revenue owed to the United States government in this massive amount of cargo arriving here every day is like trying to find the smallest of needles and the largest of haystacks,” she said. “It’s a significant undertaking. This past fiscal year we prevented the entry of over $2 billion worth of counterfeit products into the United States. This is the highest recorded value to date.”

The case is being investigated by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Homeland Security Investigations and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

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