FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. \u2014 U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers recently seized counterfeit luxury fragrances that would have been valued at over $1 million had they been real. <\/p>\n
Officers found them in a shipping container that arrived in Port Everglades from Singapore. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was actually a full container of perfume and it was mixed in with legitimate products,\u201d Assistant Port Director Bonney Vitta said.<\/p>\n
Local 10 was given access inside a warehouse in Broward County where the haul is being stored. The boxes and bottles of colognes looked like well-known brands such as Gucci, Armani, Burberry and Lancome.<\/p>\n
Vitta said CBP works diligently to identify dupes and fakes. Officers also collaborate with import specialists, sometimes sending photos for image comparisons. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey are looking for discrepancies. They\u2019re looking at the product itself, the packaging,\u201d Vitta said. \u201cWhere things come from is also a red flag.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to CBP, Singapore is a top exporter of counterfeit goods. China is still the steady number one. <\/p>\n
\u201cNumber one is China; we get more than 80% of our counterfeit merchandise from China,\u201d Vitta said. <\/p>\n
In collaboration with CBP Headquarters Intellectual Property Enforcement Branch, CBP officers determined, on April 2, that the goods were counterfeit.<\/p>\n
\u201cCounterfeit goods not only undermine legitimate businesses and the U.S. economy but can also pose potentially serious health and safety risks to consumers,\u201d Acting Port Director John Rico wrote in a statement. <\/p>\n
According to CBP, the Miami\/Tampa region is one of the busiest in the country for counterfeit goods seizures; $1.7 billion dollars worth of it last fiscal year. <\/p>\n