Chilean customs catches half a million dollars of smuggled Nike and Adidas

By

Erin Floyd

Published
Sep 15, 2017

Chilean national customs authorities have seized half a million dollars of fake Nike and Adidas product being smuggled into the country.

The report, made public on September 13th, indicated that the National Customs Service in Chile had intercepted a shipment of smuggled goods. Customs affirmed the value was approximately half a million dollars and that the contraband included fake Nike and Adidas product.

After an exhaustive inspection of the containers, Customs found 8,525 pairs of fake sneakers and 12,500 sports sweatshirts from Brazil and France. 1,800 soccer jerseys from teams including Argentina, Boca Juniors, and River Plate were also found.

The Regional Customs Director of the Chilean port city Valparaíso, Myriam Gutiérrez said the seizure will be reported to Nike's and Adidas's lawyers who can sue on the basis of enforcing their brands' intellectual property rights. Chile's National Customs Service will also file a lawsuit for smuggling.

Chile is actively seeking to crack down on smuggling. In 2016, the country seized 4.2 million fake products, the equivalent of $40 million dollars. So far this year, Chile has seized millions of shipments of fake goods including counterfeit Gucci, Ferragamo, Kenzo, Fendi, Versace and Armani, as well as high demand brands like Nike, Adidas, Converse, North Face, Columbia, Puma and Lippi.

Adapted for English by Cassidy Mantor