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Nov. 16 (UPI) -- Federal authorities in New York arrested two people in what they called the "largest-ever seizure of its kind. The United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York on Wednesday said the authorities confiscated more than 219,000 counterfeit luxury items with a retail value of about $1.03 billion.
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"Today's groundbreaking announcement underscores the unwavering commitment of HSI New York in the fight against intellectual property theft and serves as a testament to the dedication of our team and partner agencies, who have tirelessly pursued justice, culminating in the largest-ever seizure of this kind," Homeland Security Special Agent inCharge Ivan J. Arvelo said in a statement.
According to indictments unsealed on Wednesday, authorities arrested Adama Sow and Abdulai Jalloh, also known as Troy Banks, and charged them with trafficking counterfeit goods. They made an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert W. Lehrburger.
The Justice Department, Homeland Security Investigations and the New York City Police Department accused Sow and Jalloh of running large-scale counterfeit goods trafficking operations out of a storage facility located in Manhattan.
Prosecutors said Sow ran a business at an offsite location in Manhattan. Authorities nabbed 83,000 counterfeit items during searches of premises controlled by Sow with a total estimated value of more than $502 million.
Searches of premises controlled by Jalloh resulted in the seizure of over 50,000 counterfeit items with a total estimated MSRP of over $237 million.
New York City Police Commissioner Edward Caban said the selling of counterfeit goods is not a "victimless crime" and hurts legitimate business owners, customers and local governments.
"Today's indictments show how seriously the NYPD and our federal partners take this offense," Caban said. "And we will continue to work hard to hold accountable anyone who seeks to benefit by selling such items on the black market."
