U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers seized the air cargo shipment on August 8. The shipment was marked "watches," weighed 68 pounds and had a declared value of $173.
The watches were counterfeit versions of Rolex, Louis Vuitton, Cartier and Omega. If the watches were genuine, the estimated retail price would amount to $1.25 million.
Approximately $1.26 billion worth of counterfeit goods originating overseas were seized by CBP in 2012.
With an estimated manufacturer's suggested retail price of $186 million, watches and jewelry ranked as a top-five commodity seized by CBP in fiscal year 2012. In the same period, watches and jewelry represented eight percent of the total number of seizures by CBP nationwide.
