15,000 Pairs of Fake Nikes Get Confiscated During World Intellectual Property Rights Day

Filed under: News, Lynnette Khalfani-Cox

Millions of people want to “Be like Mike”, but this is ridiculous.

Authorities at Port Elizabeth in New Jersey have confiscated 15,000 pairs of fake Nike sneakers. It was part of a big bust made during a nationwide sweep to nab counterfeit products. Apparently, Nike shoes are a hot item — in addition to con artists selling fake designer clothes, bogus handbags supposedly from high-end labels, and counterfeit electronics too.

The shoes were worth about $1 million. But the value of all the 700,000 items confiscated nationwide during “Operation Spring Cleaning” was about $44 million.

The seizure in New Jersey was announced by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. It came during World Intellectual Property Rights Day.

Among the other items confiscated: 24,000 counterfeit watches in Philadelphia and even fake medicines!

Bogus medicine can be especially harmful, particularly if someone thinks they’re getting the real deal and then they wind up sick — or worse. But for some reason, not everyone sees getting fake goods as a major problem.

I know we all love to get a good deal. But we also need to think about the wisdom — and the potential ramifications — of buying knockoffs or stolen products.

When you buy such merchandise — yes, even that bootleg video for the movie you couldn’t wait to see — you take away the right of the artists, creators and manufacturers to get paid what they are rightfully due. So think twice before you fork over some cash the next time somebody wants to sell you a “Gucci” bag or a pair of Nike shoes — for the incredibly low price of just $30.

Have you ever knowingly bought knockoffs or other counterfeit products? If so, why did you do it and would you do it again?

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