Four hundred pairs of Air Jordan knock offs were stopped from entering the country by border patrol agents in Washington D.C. on Tuesday.
Close to $55,000 worth of counterfeit Nike Air Jordan sneakers were obtained by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency at Washington D.C.’s Dulles International Airport.
The shoes were discovered when officials examined seven parcels that arrived from China on December 15.
They had been headed to an address in Alexandria, Virginia.
Close to $55,000 worth of counterfeit Nike Air Jordan sneakers were obtained by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency at Washington D.C.’s Dulles International Airport
‘Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will continue to work closely with our trade and consumer safety partners to seize counterfeit and inferior merchandise,’ said Daniel Mattina, CBP Acting Port Director for the Area Port of Washington, D.C..
‘Especially those products that pose potential harm to American consumers, negatively impact legitimate business brand reputations, and potentially steal jobs from U.S. workers.’
The shoes were deemed counterfeit by the Consumer Products and Mass Merchandising Centers for Excellence and Expertise, the CBP’s trade experts.
Consultation with manufacturers found that the suggested retail price of the shoes, had they been authentic, would have been $54,715.
The 400 pairs of shoes were discovered when officials examined seven parcels that arrived from China on December 15
Jordans, named after star basketball player Michael Jordan, have been popular since they first hit stores in the 1980s.
They retail around $100 to $200 a pair and the counterfeit ones would have potentially come out to approximately $137 a pair.
Long lines normally form when a new pair of the exclusive shoes goes on sale and there have even been repeated instances of fights and riots breaking out in connection to the sneakers.
In 2016, two people were shot at a Minnesota Foot Locker when a fight broke out over Nike Air Jordan 2 Retro ‘Wing It.’
Another fight broke out between 60 customers at a Madison, Wisconsin, store over the same shoe.
Jordans, named after star basketball player Michael Jordan, have been popular since they first hit stores in the 1980s