U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers from the Area Port of Houston/Galveston Trade Enforcement Team have announced the seizure of athletic wear, soccer balls, toys, sunglass cases, counterfeit Apple products, and perfume for Intellectual Property Rights violations, including trademarks owned by FIFA. Total domestic value of the counterfeit merchandise was over $6 million.
CBP officers seized approximately 12,000 Adidas Soccer Jerseys, 4,500 Adidas FIFA Soccer Balls, nearly 4,400 pairs of athletic shoes, 69 FIFA packages with over 2,200 counterfeit Apple watches and ear buds with FIFA trademark logo, and an array of toys and perfumes. These actions protect American consumers and businesses from intellectual property rights violations.
CBP routinely utilizes intelligence gathering and analysis of past trends before major events such as the Super Bowl and World Cup. This enforcement action focused on recipients who accept shipments of goods that violate intellectual property rights of companies owning trademarks and copyrights associated with the FIFA World Cup 2026™ and related merchandise. Similar operations across the country have resulted in the seizure of thousands of items infringing on intellectual property rights.
Most shipments originated from China and were destined for locations both within and outside of the United States.
“CBP takes very seriously our role in protecting American consumers from low quality and potentially dangerous counterfeit items,” said CBP Area Port Director Thomas Mahn. “With the extraordinary growth in e-commerce, consumers should always be mindful of where they are buying their products. Unfortunately, these criminal networks are very deceptive in scamming sports fans and harming American consumers and businesses. CBP works tirelessly every day to protect the public, our local economy, and those who play by the rules.”
The original announcement can be found here.
