“30 arrested in crackdown on knockoffs”

Posted: 31 Aug 2010 01:06 PM PDT

GARDEN GROVE – Thirty people were arrested and millions of dollars worth of knockoff merchandise was seized during in multiple operations across Los Angeles, Riverside and Orange Counties, officials said.

Pirated goods such as clothing, jewelry, DVDs, CDs, phones and leather items were seized during the multiple operations, according to a statement released by Homeland Security Investigations, totaling about $12 million worth of phony merchandise.

Counterfeits of Oakley products were among the items seized in recent raids.

FILE PHOTO: THOMAS SULLENS, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

More from Garden Grove-Westminster

Among those arrested was David Nguyen, a 26-year-old owner of a Garden Grove business named iProducts. Inside the business, officials seized four counterfeit iPhones and dozens of counterfeit phone covers, including several that displayed a Louis Vuitton logo.

Nguyen has been charged with possessing and selling counterfeit goods, according to the statement.

The week's enforcement operations were part of a coordinated effort by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Riverside County District Attorney's Office, and Los Angeles, Torrance and Garden Grove police departments.

More than 47,000 phony items were seized in the multi-agency operations, according to the statement, all knockoffs with labels such as Foothill Ranch-based Oakley, Burberry, Hermes, Chanel, Cartier, Dooney, Bourke, Nike, Ray Ban and Kate Spade. Had the items been sold at the price of legitimate merchandise, they would have netted about $12 million.

The largest cache of phony goods were found Thursday when Los Angeles Police Department officers served a search warrant at a warehouse in Santee Alley Street, a shopping area located in Downtown Los Angeles between 12th Street and Olympic Boulevard.

According to the statements, the investigations are ongoing and more arrests are possible.

The operations were part of a Homeland Security Investigations' crackdown on counterfeit products dubbed Operation Fire Sale, which targets several of the country's major cities, including Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Philadelphia and Las Vegas.

Contact the writer: shernandez@ocregister.com or 949-454-7361