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The always busy U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers were back at it again when they seized 90 fake Kansas City Chiefs, Royals, and Kansas Jayhawks championship rings.
This time around, CBP intercepted the counterfeit championship rings in Cincinnati “when a non-intrusive x-ray examination yielded inconclusive results and a physical exam was required,” according to a press release.
Once opened, the package was discovered to contain 40 2019 Kansas City Chief Super Bowl rings, 20 1969 Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl Rings, 15 1985 Kansas City Royals rings, and 15 2022 Kansas Jayhawks championship rings.
Big seizure by CBP of counterfeit Royals, Chiefs, and Jayhawk Championship rings at a Cincinnati shipping facility worth estimated $2.7 million. pic.twitter.com/9tJMJaq60v
— Dave D'Marko (@DaveDMarko) March 22, 2024
Despite an Import Specialist from the Consumer Products and Mass Merchandising Center stating that the fake rings “were poor quality, had inferior packaging, a low declared value, were inaccurately declared, and lacked security features,” they were still deemed to have been worth $2.71 million if they had been real.
The counterfeit rings originated from Hong Kong and were addressed to a residence in Atchison, Kansas.
“Purchasing counterfeit sports memorabilia defunds our sports organizations, and the money profited from selling fake merchandise such as championship rings, is used to damage the United States economy and fund criminal enterprises.” said LaFonda D. Sutton-Burke, Director of Field Operations (DFO), Chicago Field Office. The DFO further added, “I am proud of the officers in Cincinnati, they work hard to protect our domestic businesses and stop illegal shipments.”
Cincinnati CBP officers recently seized a shipment containing 90 fake Kansas championship rings bearing the registered trademarks of the NFL, NCAA. and MLB. Illicit trafficking of counterfeit goods offers criminals a complementary source of income.
More: https://t.co/hdRYius2Si pic.twitter.com/IjmNrsLFa1
— CBP (@CBP) March 23, 2024
This is far from the first time U.S. Customs and Border Protection has seized counterfeit sports championship rings entering the country.
In 2022, CBP officers seized hundreds of counterfeit Super Bowl rings, and in 2021, almost 300 fake Major League Baseball and National Hockey League championship rings were seized.
Throughout the 2023 fiscal year, CBP officers seized 19,522 shipments containing nearly 23 million counterfeit items valued at $2.4 billion.
Last year, in one bust alone, Homeland Security agents confiscated around 219,000 counterfeit luxury products from a storage facility in Manhattan worth a record $1.03 billion on the black market