News Releases and Statements

ICE's HSI special agents seized nearly 127,000 counterfeit items, retailing at more than $2.5 million dollars, during a six-day enforcement action leading up to the NBA All-Star Game.

The seizures were part of Operation Team Player, an ongoing effort developed by the HSI-led Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Center to target the illegal importation and distribution of counterfeit sports merchandise, and were revealed in Miami, Florida, at a joint press conference with the National Football League (NFL), HSI, CBP and the Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD).

As the excitement of football builds in the Bay Area, sports fans around the city, state and nation, seek out team adorned gear to show support as the Super Bowl nears. Another group paying close attention to sports-related items, is the men and women of ICE's HSI, San Francisco, and CBP.

ICE HSI seized more than 700 counterfeit sports-related items worth an estimated $300,000 during a joint anti-counterfeiting operation Monday in downtown New Orleans the day of the 2020 College Football Playoff National Championship Game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

ICE has named Vance Callender as the new special agent in charge over Michigan and Ohio for HSI office, based in Detroit.

HSI Boston Acting Special Agent in Charge Jason Molina and CBP Director of Field Operations for Boston Michael Denning provided an overview of the work that HSI and CBP do to combat counterfeit items and products that violate intellectual property rights.

The ongoing IPR enforcement initiative targeting fake websites, dubbed Operation In Our Sites, was facilitated by the IPR Center, a joint-task force agency led by ICE, FBI and CBP.

This operation vastly exceeded the HSI New Orleans 2018 totals, which resulted in 6,800 seized items valued at $800,000.

During the first two games of the 2019 World Series, HSI encountered an increase in the sale of counterfeit tickets.

Monday’s seizures are part of a larger trend the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has tracked throughout the country. The National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center) is reviewing an annual report on the number of IPR seizures that have raised the total estimated manufacturer’s suggested retail price of the seized goods – had they been genuine – to $1.4 billion.

Spradlin’s primary goal in his new position is to increase public awareness of HSI and its capabilities. He also looks forward to increasing partnerships with law enforcement agencies to help keep Texas and Oklahoma residents safer.

The National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center) is reviewing an annual report on the number of IPR seizures that have raised the total estimated manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of the seized goods – had they been genuine – to $1.4 billion.

This surge initiative in the Bay Area is in furtherance of an HSI-led National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center) strategy for targeting the importation, smuggling, and trafficking of counterfeit goods. The goal of this operation is to identify and interdict counterfeit products entering the US at International Mail Facilities and Express Consignment Hubs, and then for HSI field offices to initiate investigations to disrupt and dismantle those organizations involved in these criminal acts.

HSI’s preliminary numbers reflect that nearly 1600 counterfeit items were seized June 7th and June 13th during their investigative efforts. These items included but were not limited to t-shirts, hats, jerseys, cell phones cases, cell phone ‘pop sockets’, event passes, and tickets.

The IPR Center conducted 339 foreign and domestic intellectual property rights and commercial fraud training events in FY 2017, reaching 14,258 participants. Domestic training events included the IPR Center’s Counterfeit Awareness, Mitigation, Identification, and Reporting Training.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) recently named Steve Francis as the new assistant director of the HSI-led Global Trade Investigations Division (GTID) and director of the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center).

Fake jerseys, ball caps, t-shirts, jackets and other souvenirs are among the counterfeit merchandise and clothing typically sold during these events. Additionally, authorities have seen an increase in the sale of counterfeit tickets being sold to these events.

Special agents from HSI teamed with industry, CBP, Atlanta police officers and other partner agencies to identify flea markets, retail outlets and street vendors selling counterfeit goods during the week leading up to Super Bowl LIII. They seized fake jerseys, hats, cell-phone accessories and thousands of other bogus items prepared to be sold to unsuspecting consumers.

Roughly 33,600 website domain names were criminally seized in a collaborative effort between ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Europol, Interpol and police agencies from 26 different countries. Industry partners participating in the operation were fully responsible for civilly seizing 1.21 million domain names and shutting down 2.2 million erroneous ecommerce links featured on social media platforms and third-party marketplaces.

HSI special agents seized more than 3,000 items of counterfeit MLB apparel and merchandise being offered for sale by vendors in and around Fenway Park, throughout the Boston area, and along the post-series victory parade route in Boston. Merchandise included  baseball hats, knit caps, t-shirts, sweatshirts, and pennants. Had the goods been genuine, they would have retailed domestically for more than $87,000 dollars.

IPR Center Director Alex Khu and CoLP Commissioner Ian Dyson pledged to combine resources to tackle the illegal importation and distribution of counterfeit goods that threaten the health and safety of consumers, wreak havoc on local and national economies, and fund criminal organizations involved in various illicit activities.

Intellectual property enforcement representatives met at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement-led National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center in Arlington, Virginia, for the 2018 IPR Center Symposium: Leveraging the Influence of Social Media.

The leaders of the counterfeit scheme, Stephen Russell and Robert Brown, both of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, were convicted in February and March of this year of trafficking in counterfeit goods charges in Rhode Island federal court; final sentencing in the case is set for January 2019.