CBP Seizes 1,588 Counterfeit Jewelry Pieces Worth $9.2 Million

A shipment of 1,588 counterfeit jewelry pieces, packed as if they were luxury goods and headed from Hong Kong to a New York City residence, was stopped in Louisville, Kentucky, before any of it could reach a gift box or a marketplace listing. The haul, seized on April 3, would have carried a combined value of more than $9.2 million if genuine.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said the load came in two express consignment shipments and included 691 pairs of earrings, 522 bracelets, 197 necklaces and 178 rings. The pieces bore trademarks tied to Cartier, Chanel, Christian Dior, Fendi, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Tiffany, Van Cleef and Arpels and Yves St. Laurent, a spread that shows how counterfeiters lean on the most recognizable names in jewelry and fashion to move product fast.

CBP trade experts at the Consumer Products and Mass Merchandising Center of Excellence and Expertise reviewed documentation and photographs, then worked with trademark holders to confirm the items were counterfeit and subject to seizure. Louisville Port Director Phil Onken said counterfeit goods threaten “America’s innovation economy, legitimate businesses, U.S. workers, and, in some cases, national security and consumer health and safety.”

That warning matters beyond this one shipment. CBP says the speed of e-commerce has made it easier for counterfeit and pirated goods to enter the U.S. economy, especially through express channels that can make a fake bracelet look like a routine online order. The agency also says the trade in counterfeit consumer goods can fund transnational criminal organizations, may involve forced labor, and often relies on substandard materials that can be harmful to consumers.

Louisville has become a frequent interception point. In June 2025, CBP officers there seized five shipments containing nearly 2,200 counterfeit jewelry pieces worth more than $25.32 million if genuine. In December 2024, officers seized three more shipments from Hong Kong and China with a combined genuine value of more than $18.6 million.

The buyer-protection lesson is simple: before you buy online, secondhand, or from a marketplace seller, ask for the original receipt, clear photos of hallmarks and clasps, the exact weight and measurements, and the seller’s return policy. If a listing waves around a luxury name but cannot produce a paper trail, treat it as suspect. CBP’s Truth Behind Counterfeits campaign is aimed at that gap between the glossy image and the object in hand, where fake jewelry most often enters the market.