Indianapolis, Indiana - Since May of this year U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers in Indianapolis have seized 991 counterfeit championship rings from all the major sports leagues as well as collegiate championship rings. On August 15, CBP officers in Indianapolis added 213 more rings to their collection bringing their total to 1,204 counterfeit championship rings in four months.
CBP officers at our Express Consignment Operations hub in Indianapolis detained a shipment arriving from a company in China on July 21. Officers inspected the package to determine the admissibility of the merchandise and found various rings bearing the names and logos of professional and collegiate sports teams. An Import Specialist was able to determine the 213 rings to be counterfeit and CBP seized the rings. If the items were genuine, the total Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) for this shipment would have been worth over $240K.
The shipment of counterfeits included: 14 Chicago Cub World Series rings, 11 Houston Astros World Series rings, 4 San Francisco Giants World Series rings, 2 Kansas City Royals World Series rings, 24 Green Bay Packers Superbowl rings, 12 Philadelphia Super Bowl rings, 5 Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl rings, 28 Chicago Bulls NBA championship rings, 24 Boston Celtics NBA championship rings, 24 Dallas Stars NHL championship rings, 29 Nebraska Corn Huskers collegiate championship rings, 32 Nebraska Corn Huskers Michael Booker 1997 championship rings, and 4 Notre Dame collegiate championship rings.
“Counterfeit jewelry continues to flood e-commerce market and these rings were focused on a select group of sports collectors and their fans,” said LaFonda Sutton-Burke, Director, Field Operations-Chicago Field Office. “Our officers are well-trained to find counterfeit merchandise like these in support of CBP’s mission of protecting the American public and the American economy.”
At the beginning of May CBP officers in Indianapolis stopped $495K counterfeit championship rings, and then in June officers seized shipments of championship rings worth over $800K.
“This is just another example of the work our officers do to protect consumers and the U.S. economy,” said Kerry Carter, Acting Port Director-Indianapolis. “As consumers increasingly purchase from online or third-party vendors, our officers are at the frontline to guard against defrauders expecting to make money selling fake merchandise.”
CBP encourages consumers to protect themselves and their families by always purchasing safe, authentic goods from reputable vendors.
CBP protects businesses and consumers every day through an aggressive Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) enforcement program. Importation of counterfeit merchandise can cause significant revenue loss, damage the U.S. economy, and threaten the health and safety of the American people.
