Billion$ in fraud brand destroyed
Approximately US$60 million — in the region of J$9 billion — worth of counterfeit goods were destroyed by the Jamaica Customs Agency yesterday. The items, which were mostly sneakers, filled 13 containers that entered the island in 2017.
Among the items that were disposed of yesterday were hundreds of fake Air Jordan, Nike, Adidas, Puma and Fenty Sneakers and slippers.
Albert Anderson, director of the Contraband Enforcement Team, said that the sale of counterfeit goods is a thriving business. He said that shipments of counterfeit goods arrive in the country regularly, and when found they are confiscated and destroyed.
“The whole process of carrying it from detention to forfeiture, then to disposal, is a lengthy one. One of the things is that you need to give the person time to come and prove that their goods are genuine. We would have normally got verification from the rights owner that the goods are fake, so once that is done, we give them a period of three months to respond. We will then seek permission from the relevant offices, once the person does not respond, to have the items destroyed,” he said.
The destruction of the goods pained the hearts of many persons, who argued that they should have been given to people who are in need. For example, Joan Wilson, a philanthropist who normally sends items from the United Kingdom to give to less fortunate persons in Jamaica, believes that local charities would benefit immensely from the sneakers.
PERFECT FOR CHARITY
“Instead of destroying them, they would be perfect for charity and other needy persons. Of course, I understand that they are counterfeit, but why destroy millions of dollars when the poor can benefit from them?” she quizzed.
But Mikhail Jackson, a lawyer who watched yesterday’s proceedings on behalf of trademark holders, said the goods are substandard.
“They are not goods that are built in accordance to the specific methods and testings that the brands go through to ensure that they are safe,” Jackson said, while adding that the fake brands may cause injury to people using them.
It is a point that is not lost on Kaniel Cole, a soldier and philanthropist.
“Once the shoes are counterfeit it would mean that you are ripping off someone else. It isn’t right, and we may run joke about it and say give it to charity, but giving them would mean that we are ripping off lawabiding citizens who are paying their taxes. It’s a no for me, I don’t believe we should steal from the rich to give the poor, and vice versa,” Cole said.