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Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in Phoenix and Tucson rounded up nearly $800,000 worth of bootleg clothing last week, including more than $8,000 worth of phony football jerseys, as part of a national campaign called “Operation Holiday Hoax.”
Two weeks before Christmas? Talk about bah, humbug.
“Operation ‘Holiday Hoax’ struck the counterfeiters and counterfeit vendors just when their inventories were at their peak. This is the season these criminals lure in unwitting holiday shoppers and sell them substandard and sometimes dangerous goods,” John Morton, Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary for ICE, says in a press release.
Chances are the world wouldn’t come to an end if a few kids were running around in “substandard” Larry Fitzgerald jerseys, but rules are rules for the folks at ICE.
ICE’s hunt for the phony gear took them to three swap meets in both Phoenix and Tucson, where they uncovered close to $800,000 worth of counterfeit crap.
Across the country, ICE picked off more than $26 million in bogus goods before they made it to the hands of consumers.
ICE agents found a wide variety of fake stuff, including things like shoes, purses, and Ed Hardy clothing, which raises the question: Which is more lame? Being stupid enough to spend over $100 on an Ed Hardy tee shirt, or being tacky enough to wear a fake one? The answer is neither.
Ed Hardy shirts — real or fake — are lame.
