Crime, EU – Baltic States, Latvia, Legislation
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Friday, 26.04.2024, 07:37
Latvian customs officials seize 24,528 pairs of counterfeit Nike shoes
The containers had been imported from China. The loss caused to the
trademark holder is about 2.93 mln euros.
When inspecting the containers, customs officials discovered sports
footwear in them. Some shoes were without any brands, but the majority carried
the brand of Nike and had signs of counterfeit.
Representatives of Nike Innovate
C.V. were asked to provide their opinion on the shoes and they confirmed
that these are counterfeit goods.
VID representative Andis Stinka told that the containers with
counterfeit goods had arrived at the Riga Freeport in December 2016. Finally,
the transporter of the cargo applied for customs control, and the counterfeit
goods were thus discovered.
Stinka said that recipients of the cargo were two persons in Russia. “Possibly,
they had not come to pick up the cargo in fear of being caught. It is hard to
tell whether the cargo had been meant for the Russian market or the Latvian
market. Also if the recipients came to collect the cargo, it should have
undergo customs control,” said Stinka.
The cargo will now be mechanically destroyed in a waste management
company.
This year customs officials have seized in total 42,000 pairs of
counterfeit Nike shoes. In March customs officials seized 17,472 pairs of fake
Nike shoes at the Riga Freeport.