Feds don't care if you're prepping your formal outfits for weddings, proms or the red carpet — fake Tiffany jewels are a no-no.
This week, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in Cincinnati seized a haul of counterfeit high-end jewelry worth about $4.26 million.
A shipment that originated in China contained thousands of jewelry pieces marked falsely as being from Tiffany & Co, Gucci, Chanel and other luxury brands. Unmarked jewelry items were in the shipment, as well, CBP officials said in a release.
Originally destined for McAllen, Texas, the shipment included 9,377 individual pieces of jewelry. The declared value of the shipment was $119, but had the items been genuine — ones you could buy at Tiffany's on 5th Avenue in New York City, for example — they would have been worth approximately $4.2 million.
Cincinnati apparently is a hot pass-through city for faux luxury brands. Earlier in April, CBP nabbed a shipment of fake Cartier "Love" bracelets. The shipment again originated in China and was on its way to Greenfield, Indiana, officials said.
The 242 bracelets were declared at just $52 altogether, but the actual manufacturer’s suggested retail price would have been nearly $3.6 million had they been the real deal.
