C-AIR TIMES ISSUE #252 - Friday, February 01, 2013 08:38

ICE, CBP, USPIS Seize More than $13.6 Million in Fake NFL Merchandise During 'Operation Red Zone'

313 Websites Seized and 23 Individuals Arrested Nationwide for selling Counterfeit NFL Merchandise

NEW ORLEANS — Speaking at a National Football League (NFL) news conference Thursday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director John Morton and NFL Vice President for Legal Affairs Anastasia Danias announced the record-breaking results of a nationwide enforcement operation. The initiative, dubbed 'Operation Red Zone,' commenced Sept. 1, 2012, and targeted international shipments of counterfeit merchandise as it entered the United States. Authorities targeted warehouses, stores, flea markets, online vendors and street vendors selling counterfeit game-related sportswear and tickets throughout the country.

Fake jerseys, ball caps, T-shirts, jackets and other souvenirs are among the counterfeit merchandise and clothing confiscated by teams of special agents and officers from ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and state and local police departments around the country - all in partnership with the NFL and other major sports leagues.
 
"The Super Bowl is one of the nation's most exciting events. Organized criminals are preying on that excitement, ripping consumers off with counterfeit merchandise and stealing from the American businesses who have worked hard to build a trusted brand," said Morton. "The sale of counterfeit jerseys and other sports items undermines the legitimate economy, takes jobs away from Americans and fuels crime overseas. No good comes of counterfeiting American products - whether NFL jerseys, airbags, or pharmaceuticals - and we must go after the criminals behind it."

'Hard goods' seizures
 
Special agents from HSI and officers with CBP operated in multiple teams with the NFL and law enforcement agencies throughout the nation to identify illegal shipments imported into the U.S., as well as stores and vendors selling counterfeit trademarked items. With three days left before Super Bowl XLVII, these teams have already seized more than 160,000 items of phony Super Bowl-related memorabilia along with other counterfeit items for a total take of more than $13.6 million. Due to the increased activity of counterfeiting operations around the world, this year the operation began Sept. 1, 2012, and will continue through Feb. 6, 2013.

"We're delighted to once again partner with federal law enforcement to help combat the influx of counterfeit merchandise," said Danias. "We are grateful for their tireless efforts to keep counterfeiters from illegally profiting off of the fans' enthusiasm for their team and the Super Bowl and from hurting the local businesses that play by the rules."

"In collaboration with the NFL and our (Department of Homeland Security) partners, we are providing critical support in the effort to protect consumers from counterfeit goods," said Robert C. Gomez, director of field operations in Atlanta and New Orleans for CBP. "The enforcement of iintellectual property rights is a national agency priority, and our CBP officers and import specialists are actively working to intercept these products. Counterfeit merchandise hurts our economy and, in many cases, presents safety issues. It is a potential source of funding illegal activities that present a threat to our national security."
 
Arrests

In September 2012, HSI Boston - assisted by HSI Providence - executed a search warrant at a residence in Warwick, R.I. HSI seized 226 boxes of counterfeit goods containing 4,016 sports jerseys with a manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) of $724,340 and approximately $477,000 worth of additional counterfeit goods, as well as $130,057 in U.S. currency and checks. The owner of the home was subsequently arrested and is currently facing federal charges of trafficking in counterfeit goods and smuggling.
 
In November 2012, HSI Indianapolis special agents responded to a call from Indiana State Fairgrounds Security that an individual at the Indianapolis International Fest was selling items suspected to be counterfeit. Upon arriving at the festival, the special agents were able to verify the goods to be counterfeit and seized 1,319 counterfeit sports ball caps from the individual with an MSRP of $30,095 and approximately $7,600 worth of additional counterfeit goods. HSI arrested the man for illegally trafficking in counterfeit merchandise.
Twenty-one other individuals were arrested in partnership with state and local law enforcement
agencies on state charges at locations around the country.
 
Website seizures
 
Furthering HSI's efforts to combat the international counterfeiting supply chain and piracy online, special agents seized a total of 313 websites identified to be selling counterfeit merchandise.
 
The website seizures during Operation Red Zone are the next iteration of Operation In Our Sites, a long term law enforcement initiative targeting counterfeiting and piracy on the Internet. The 313 websites have been seized by law enforcement, and are now in the custody of the federal government. Visitors to these websites will find a seizure banner that notifies them that the domain name has been seized by federal authorities and educates them that willful copyright infringement is a federal crime. Since the launch of Operation In Our Sites in June 2010, the ICE HSI-led Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Center has seized a total of 2,061 domain names.
 
HSI has continued to work closely with payment processor PayPal to identify bank accounts being used to facilitate the transfer of money to these illegal operations. To date, PayPal and HSI have identified and seized more than $66,000 in assets in these accounts.
 
"PayPal and eBay Inc. pride ourselves in going above and beyond in the fight against the illegal online trafficking of counterfeit goods by partnering with law enforcement and rights owners globally, and as part of providing safe and trusted payments and commerce platforms," said Tod Cohen, eBay's vice president and deputy general counsel of government relations.
 
Operation Red Zone continues
 
Operation Red Zone will continue this weekend at the Super Bowl, throughout the New Orleans-area and around the nation.
 
The operation was spearheaded by the IPR Center in coordination with the Department of Justice's Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and five U.S. Attorneys' Offices, including the District of Maryland, District of New Jersey, District of Colorado, Eastern District of Louisiana and the District of Utah.
 
The IPR Center is one of the U.S. government's key weapons in the fight against criminal counterfeiting and piracy. Working in close coordination with the Department of Justice Task Force on Intellectual Property, the IPR Center uses the expertise of its 21 member agencies to share information, develop initiatives, coordinate enforcement actions and conduct investigations related to intellectual property theft. Through this strategic interagency partnership, the IPR Center protects the public's health and safety and the U.S. economy.
 
To report intellectual property theft or to learn more about the IPR Center, visit www.IPRCenter.gov.

CBP rule change will lead to more efficient posting of seizure notices

U.S. Customs & Border Protection / http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/news_releases/national/01292013_4.xml

(Tuesday, January 29, 2013)

Washington – U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) today published in the Federal Register a final rule that allows CBP to publish seizure and forfeiture notices on the Internet. This change will provide notice to a broader range of the public without the geographical limitations that exist under the current procedure which rely solely on local print publications or customhouse postings.

The idea was submitted by CBP Paralegal Specialist Paul Behe and selected as one of four finalists out of more than 18,000 ideas submitted for the President’s 2010 Securing Americans Value and Efficiency (SAVE) Award.

Under this final rule, Internet posting will be available for a longer period of time (30 days) compared to the minimum statutory requirement of three weeks (21 days). This final rule provides CBP the discretion to publish notice in a print medium when CBP determines that additional outreach would be appropriate. In addition to these advantages, CBP expects that Internet publishing will provide savings to the government.

CBP will utilize the Department of Justice (DOJ) forfeiture Web site, located at forfeiture.gov. ( DOJ forfeiture ) The DOJ forfeiture Web site currently contains a list of pending notices of civil and criminal forfeiture actions in various district courts and federal government agencies.

Notices will be posted online for 30 days for all property regardless of value, although for property appraised at $5,000 or less, notices will continue to be physically posted at the customs location nearest the place of seizure.

CBP Seizes Nearly $900K of Tablets with Fake Safety Markings on Adaptors

Over 5,000 Electrical Adaptors Have Counterfeit ETL and UL Safety Markings

U.S. Customs & Border Protection / http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/news_releases/local/01252013_8.xml

Los Angeles— U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers and import specialists assigned to the Los Angeles/Long Beach seaport complex seized 5,101 tablet computers containing electrical adapters with counterfeit ETL Listed Mark (ETL) and Underwriters Laboratories (UL) safety markings.

CBP officers discovered the infringing merchandise in a shipment arriving from China. The manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) is $898,328 with a domestic value (DV) of $691,745. Seized were 4,705 nine-inch and 396 seven-inch tablets with chargers.

“Of paramount importance, for CBP officers and import specialists is the protection of consumers, particularly when counterfeit electronic equipment may pose unsafe risks to the unsuspecting public,” said Todd C. Owen CBP Director of Field Operations in Los Angeles.

ETL and UL are independent product safety certification organizations which rigorously test and evaluate products for potential risk of fire, shock, and/or personal injury. Products are not certified until they meet established standards.

Products bearing counterfeit ETL and UL certification marks have not undergone such a testing and certification process, and can present potential safety hazards to the consumer. If forfeited, seized tablets and adapters will likely be destroyed.

In fiscal year 2011, electrical articles presenting potential safety or security risks, with an estimated domestic value of $10.2 million, represented 17% of all commodities seized by CBP nationwide.

Maersk Line / http://www.maersk-nam-marketing.com/advisories/2013/01/united-states-to-far-east-gri-effective-march-2-2013/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=maersklinenam< /span>

Maersk Line will implement a General Rate Increase for all dry shipments from the United States to the Far East with an effective date of March 2, 2013.

Increase amounts are as follows:

•USD 80 per 20’ container
•USD 100 per 40’ STD
•USD 100 per 40’ high cube
•USD 100 per 45’ container

Exact scope is as follows:

•United States to the Far East (Brunei, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Mongolia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Timor Leste & Vietnam)

U.S. Customs & Border Protection  / http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/news_releases/local/01252013_3.xml

San Juan, Puerto Rico - Numerous imports arrived at the San Juan seaport between October and December 2012. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers and import specialists began targeting shipments that were coming into Puerto Rico looking for unsafe and counterfeit items. 

Specifically, CBP officers seized a shipment that contained fake Barbie dolls for trademark violation. It had an estimated domestic value of $99,552.

Further, CBP officers and U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) investigators targeted five shipments containing children’s toys such as R/C cars, motorcycles, footballs, friction cars and bicycles, and kitchen play sets on suspicion that the toys contained dangerous levels of lead. Testing conducted at CPSC’s National Product Testing and Evaluation Center found excessive levels of lead on all of the toys. CBP in Puerto Rico made about six seizures for trademark violation and for violating the federal lead-paint standard. The total domestic value for all of these seizures was about $651,950.

“Collaboration with trademark holders and CPSC allows our trade enforcement officers and import specialists to have an enhanced capacity to stop unsafe and counterfeit products,” stated Marcelino Borges, Director of Field Operations for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

CBP facilitates about $2 trillion dollars in legitimate trade while enforcing U.S. trade laws that protect the economy, the health and the safety of the American people. This was accomplished through close partnerships with the trade community and other government agencies.

Within the last four years CBP and CPSC have seized nationwide more than 8.5 million units of hazardous toys and children’s products. Over the last two years, the combined efforts of CBP and CPSC in Puerto Rico have resulted in the seizure of thousands of unsafe and counterfeit children’s merchandise. As a result, CBP is not only focused on enforcing the rights of intellectual property right holders, but along with CPSC, we are also focused on keeping unsafe products off store shelves and out of consumers’ homes.

P-3s intercept more than $130 million in cocaine

Jacksonville, Fla. — In two separate incidents, two U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) P-3 aircraft operating out of National Air Security Operations Center (NASOC) -Jacksonville, Fla., detected suspicious waterborne targets carrying more than 3,800 pounds of cocaine with a combined value of more than $130 million.

The first incident took place on Jan. 17, when a P-3 operating near the Galapagos Islands spotted a vessel towing four panga boats. Various maritime patrol assets tracked the targets over several days before turning the surveillance over to the U.S. Navy. U.S. Navy assets intercepted the suspicious vessel and detained one Ecuadorian, two Colombians and recovered more than 800 pounds of cocaine valued over $28 million.

The next event took place on Jan. 21, when the Jacksonville based P-3 detected a go-fast vessel off the coast of Colón, Panama. Surveillance of the go-fast showed it to be loaded with contraband and fuel barrels. The crew onboard the P-3 coordinated with Panamanian law enforcement to respond to the suspected boat. After intercepting the go-fast, the Panamanians recovered 57 bales of cocaine that weighed more than 3,000 pounds and has a street value over $100 million.

“These interceptions are indicative of our efforts to remain vigilant and our commitment to joining our international law enforcement partners in disrupting criminal activity at every opportunity,” said Ricky High, CBP Jacksonville NASOC director.

These two disruptions are the latest in CBP’s efforts to disrupt smugglers and their contraband.

During fiscal year 2012, the CBP P-3 fleet continued its anti-smuggling success by seizing or disrupting more than 117,000 pounds of cocaine valued at more than $8.76 billion.

CBP OAM P-3s have been an integral part of the successful counter-narcotic missions operating in coordination with the Joint Interagency Task Force – South (JIATFS). The P-3s patrol in a six million square mile area of the Western Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, known as the Source and Transit Zone, in search of drugs that are in transit towards U.S. shores.

The P-3s’ distinctive detection capabilities allow highly-trained crews to identify emerging threats well beyond the land borders of the U.S. By providing surveillance of known air, land, and maritime smuggling routes in an area that is twice the size of the continental U.S., the P-3s detect, monitor and disrupt smuggling activities before they reach shore.