RIVERSIDE: 16000 designer handbags seized by customs - Press-Enterprise (blog)

During a press conference Thursday, Sept. 26, 2013, Elva Muneton, Asst. Port Director Trade Operations U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows counterfeit handbags that were seized. – TERRY PIERSON/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials seized more than 16,000 counterfeit designer handbags with a legitimate market value of $210 million.

Customs officials at the port in Los Angeles and Long Beach intercepted nine shipments of fake Hermes purses and handbags from June 6 to Sept. 17. The shipments were taken to the Department of Homeland Security seized property warehouse in Riverside.

Inside the shipment were 16,053 counterfeit bags intermixed with legitimate shipments of lower-end unmarked bags to conceal the black market haul.

The domestic value of the counterfeit bags including the cost and shipping costs totaled $295,665. The suggested manufacturer retail value would be $210.8 million if the bags had been genuine and sold legitimately.