Counterfeit watches worth over $9 million and 4,345 counterfeit licenses seized by CBP officers in Chicago

CHICAGO–During the month of April, Chicago U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers stationed at the International Mail Facility, the Express Consignment Operations hub, the Cargo Examination Station, and Chicago O’Hare International Airport intercepted 145 shipments of counterfeit watches and 340 shipments containing counterfeit driver’s licenses.

All 485 shipments came from Hong Kong and China. In total CBP officers seized 516 counterfeit watches bearing the logos of Rolex, Patek Philippe, Cartier, Omega, Audemars Piguet, and others. The items were deemed to be counterfeit by CBP’s Centers of Excellence and Expertise, the agency’s trade experts, and if genuine, would have had a combined Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price over $9.22 million.

“Intellectual property theft threatens America’s economic vitality and funds criminal activities as well as organized crime,” said LaFonda D. Sutton-Burke, Director of Field Operations, Chicago Field Office. “Our employees are dedicated to protecting private industry and consumers by removing these kinds of goods from our commerce.”

The rapid growth of e-commerce enables consumers to search for and easily purchase millions of products through online vendors, but this easy access gives counterfeit and pirated goods more ways to enter the U.S. economy. U.S. consumers spend more than $100 billion every year on intellectual property rights (IPR) infringing goods, falling victim to approximately 20% of the counterfeits that are illegally sold worldwide.

CBP officers also stopped 340 shipments of counterfeit driver’s licenses in April. In total, they seized 4,345 counterfeit licenses destined to locations across the U.S.

Counterfeit documents are fake documents that have the appearance of legal documentation but are not issued by a legitimate organization or government agency and are not recognized in the United States as official travel or identification instruments. Only two companies have authorization by the U.S. Department of State to print international driver’s licenses in the United States: The American Automobile Association (AAA) or American Automobile Touring Alliance (AATA).

“These counterfeit driver’s licenses can lead to disastrous consequences,” said Michael Pfeiffer, Area Port Director, Chicago. “Foreign Terrorist Organizations, criminal organizations, and persons involved in fraud schemes use these counterfeit IDs to avoid attracting attention to their illegal activities. Our CBP officers were able to identify these very realistic counterfeits and stop them from reaching their destinations.”

Trade in counterfeit and pirated goods threatens America’s innovation economy, the competitiveness of our businesses, the livelihoods of U.S. workers, and, in some cases, national security and the health and safety of consumers. To combat the entry of counterfeit and pirated goods into America, CBP targets and seizes imports of counterfeit and pirated goods and enforces exclusion orders on patent-infringing and other IPR violative goods.

CBP’s border security mission is led at 328 ports of entry by CBP officers from the Office of Field Operations.  Please visit CBP Ports of Entry to learn more about how CBP’s Office of Field Operations secures our nation’s borders. Learn more about CBP at www.CBP.gov.

Follow Chicago CBP on X @CBPChicago and @DFOChicago. Visit CBP’s YouTube channel to learn more about how CBP’s Office of Field Operations secures our nation’s borders.