This bust was faux real.
A storage facility in Manhattan was the site of the largest counterfeit goods seizure in US history as authorities on Wednesday unveiled a sprawling collection of phony “designer” merchandise the envy of any wannabe socialite.
Two men were arrested in the not-so-opulent operation where a whopping $1.03 billion worth of fake handbags, shoes, clothes and other accessories were stored away in boxes and on cluttered shelves in units at Gotham Mini Storage, the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York said in a news release.
About 219,000 faux items were recovered in the joint investigation conducted by Homeland Security Investigations agents and the NYPD.
Adama Sow, 38, and Abdulai Jalloh, 48, allegedly ran the black-market operation out of the storage facility from January through October, the feds alleged.
Jalloh is also accused of peddling counterfeit goods out of another off-site location in Manhattan, prosecutors said.
“As alleged, the defendants used a Manhattan storage facility as a distribution center for massive amounts of knock-off designer goods,” US Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement. “The seizures announced today consist of merchandise with over a billion dollars in estimated retail value, the largest-ever seizure of counterfeit goods in U.S. history.”
Photos released by the US Attorney’s Office showed units filled to the brim with thousands of counterfeit high-end handbags of every color and design. Some clothes were hanging off the pipes in one room.
Another photo showed dozens of unopened boxes on pallets lined up in another room.
Sow, of Queens, and Jalloh, of Manhattan, were charged with trafficking in counterfeit goods.
If convicted, the pair could face a maximum of 10 years in prison.
“The trafficking of counterfeit goods is anything but a victimless crime because it harms legitimate businesses, governments, and consumers,” NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban said in a statement.
“Today’s indictments show how seriously the NYPD and our federal partners take this offense.”