This $24 million immigration bust wasn’t at the border — it was Super Bowl themed
There goes the cheap Super Bowl merch.
Immigrations and Customs Enforcement announced raids Thursday on at least one factory and one flea market in Atlanta, the host city for Super Bowl LIII, netting $24.2 million in fake gear.
Multi-million dollar busts for inauthentic Super Bowl merchandise have become something of a yearly ICE tradition, according to a news release detailing the latest big-game related raids. Last year ICE seized about $15 million worth of spurious swag, the release states.
The agency has dubbed the coordinated raids “Operation Team Player.”
ICE says it has seized “nearly 285,000” sports-related items in total in the raids in the days and weeks ahead of the Super Bowl, which will be played Sunday at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta and pits the New England Patriots against the Los Angeles Rams. The items include “fake jerseys, hats, cell-phone accessories and thousands of other bogus items prepared to be sold to unsuspecting consumers,” ICE officials said in the news release.
The feds arrested 28 in connection with the raids, resulting in 21 convictions, ICE said.
Customs and Border Protection, the NFL, Atlanta Police and Department of Justice officials held a joint press conference on the busts Thursday.
“The Super Bowl is game on for criminals trying to scam unsuspecting fans,” David Hirschmann, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber’s Global Innovation Policy Center, said in the ICE release. “From counterfeit tickets to fake, substandard jerseys and sports gear, fans could be cheated out of their money and have their private information stolen. These counterfeits also cause long-ranging harm to the American economy, jobs, and businesses. The only way to be certain that you get what you paid for is to shop from authentic retailers and vendors.”
Authentic Jared Goff and Tom Brady jerseys with a Super Bowl LIII patch on them were being sold for $119.99 apiece Friday on NFL.com.
