What may be the largest seizure of fake shoes took place recently in China. A tip from Nike Sports China led the police in Bengbu to an investigation and eventual seizure of $87 million in shoes, mostly sneakers. Bengbu is located in the northern province of Anhui Province. The shoes were going to be exported to the Middle East and Africa and had a total value in excess of 600 million yuan or $87.3 million dollars. Using the Nike tip, the police identified Jinfeng Factory and its director who had served a suspended sentence of two years for manufacturing counterfeit shoes in 2008. Ten other suspects were arrested.
This seizure of shoes topped another notable seizure of shoes that involved $32 million of Adidas and Nike sneakers and took place in Chile on November 2015. The total shipment was 16,454 divided up into 474 boxes. Customs officials discovered the sneakers when they saw a discrepancy in the declared value of the shipment. The documentation declared the total value at $24,209, but the actual value was over $31,000.