FBI: Counterfeit Goods Smuggling Ring Dismantled

The FBI web site offers an interesting piece:

When Ning Guo was sentenced to prison earlier this year, it marked one of the final chapters in a massive international counterfeit goods smuggling case—one of the largest ever charged by the Department of Justice—in which criminals attempted to flood the U.S. market with bogus cigarettes, handbags, and sneakers from China that would have been worth $300 million on the retail market.

From November 2009 through February 2012, the smugglers and their conspirators attempted to import hundreds of shipping containers full of counterfeit Nike shoes, Gucci handbags, cigarettes, and other items from China into the U.S. through the Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal in New Jersey.

When a multi-agency force took down the operation in 2012, nearly 30 individuals were arrested and charged with various counts of conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit goods, as well as other crimes—including money laundering and drug trafficking.

“This was a complex case,” said Special Agent Ron Pascale, who worked the investigation from our Newark Division. “But over time, we identified the entire conspiracy and dismantled it.”

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2014/august/counterfeit-goods-smuggling-ring-dismantled/counterfeit-goods-smuggling-ring-dismantled?utm_campaign=email-Daily&utm_medium=email&utm_source=fbi-top-stories&utm_content=346011