US $1 billion counterfeit goods seizure

By Sara Smart, CNN

(CNN) — Two people have been arrested in the largest seizure of counterfeit goods in US history, including knock-off designer goods with an estimated retail value of more than a billion dollars, officials in New York said.

Adama Sow, 38, and Abdulai Jalloh, 48, were arrested Wednesday morning and charged with trafficking in counterfeit goods, according to indictments and a news release from the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

At a bond hearing Wednesday, a judge set Sow’s bond at $1 million and Jalloh’s bond at $500,000, court records show.

CNN reached out to attorneys for both Sow and Jalloh but did not immediately hear back.

Sow and Jalloh ran the trafficking operation out of a Manhattan storage facility from January to October, the news release from the attorney’s office said. Counterfeit goods were also found during searches of separate locations controlled by Sow and Jalloh, according to prosecutors.

Approximately 219,000 counterfeit items with an estimated retail value of $1.03 billion were found during the seizure, including bags, clothes, shoes and other products, prosecutors said.

“This is a testament to the commitment of this Office and its law enforcement partners to combat counterfeit trafficking in New York City,” US Attorney Damian Williams said.

The trafficking charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, the attorney’s office said.

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