Large seizure of counterfeit sunglasses recovered

July 25, 2024 – The Los Angeles Police Department’s Anti-Piracy unit handles investigations involving the enforcement of middle to high level organized manufacturing and distribution rings of counterfeit DVD and CD’s.  Their responsibilities also include the enforcement of intellectual property crimes at retail/wholesale locations that are involved in the sale of counterfeit items including jewelry, purses, clothing, sunglasses and shoes.  The Anti-Piracy Unit is one of the few units in law enforcement that investigates illegal piracy on a full time basis.

The Anti-Piracy unit consists of five detectives and one police officer and is tasked with investigating Piracy/Intellectual property crimes throughout the City of Los Angeles.  The Department’s Area vice units focus on street level vendors and distributors.  Moreover, the Piracy Unit generates, develops and actively investigates their individual cases.  The unit works hand and hand with members and consultants (private investigators) from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). 

Personnel from each organization are actively involved in the enforcement and seizure of counterfeit materials related to their respective companies.  Each has their own hotline/set-up on their respective web sites that will pay for information on counterfeit suspects and/or locations.  On most occasions, the MPAA or RIAA (whether DVDs or CDs) will hire private investigators to examine the work product from these locations or suspects.  Their inspection will normally include surveillance and the purchasing of counterfeit goods from the intended suspect(s).   Once they have developed the preliminary case, they will present the case to the Anti-Piracy Unit.  Portions of the case will be corroborated and a search warrant if acceptable will be written.

On July 16, 2008, Detectives from the Anti-Piracy unit served a search warrant at a retail store in the Garment district in downtown Los Angeles (Central Area).  Undercover investigations and surveillance operations determined that the retail business was heavily involved in the sales of counterfeit sunglasses (Coach, Louis Vuitton).  During the service of the warrant, an employee of the wholesale distributer of the sunglasses was dropping off an order to the retail business.  Further investigation revealed that the employee of the wholesale distributor had several boxes of counterfeit sunglasses in his company vehicle.  Those items were seized.  A follow-up investigation to the wholesale distributor’s warehouse revealed several more thousands of counterfeit sunglasses.  A total of nearly 43,000 counterfeit sunglasses were recovered for a fair market value of $8.5 million dollars.   

Comments

[J Q Public]

What do the MPAA and RIAA have to do with fake sunglasses?

[Tax payer]

Why are my tax dollars going to get some rich companies sunglasses instead to fighting gangs in the city.......

[Yut Yut]

Taxpayer,

Gangs have their hands in everything, including ID theft and counterfeit goods.

Think organized crime.

[Glass of OJ]

I wasn't even aware that counterfeit sunglasses existed. It looks like gangs have spread themselves to all departments of goods.