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Counterfeit goods worth about R15-million were confiscated by the Joburg metro police working with the Customs Department and sports and clothing brand owners.
Metro Police haul: Superintendent Zed Mangaliso and spokesperson Wayne Minnaar
A JOINT operation between the Johannesburg metro police department (JMPD), South African Customs and major sports and clothing brand owners have uncovered counterfeit goods to the value of R15-million.
The goods were sold at informal trader stalls in Delvers and Jeppe streets and had familiar brand names such as Nike, Adidas, Vodacom Bulls and even the Joburg 2010 FIFA logo.
A proud JMPD superintendent, Zed Mangaliso, said about 120 officers worked the whole day on 27 May to confiscate the eight tonnes of T-shirts, tracksuits, shoes, sweaters and other sports gear. In shoes alone, the JMPD moved about 12 000 pairs, all carrying the Nike dash and Adidas brand names.
"This is our biggest haul. The most important thing is we work on inside information."
The actual operation was done over a number of days. Mangaliso said it was impossible to surprise the traders as all goods "disappear" off the street the moment the police show up. So a new approach was devised.
First, the illegal traders were "notified" that a raid would be happening. Then they were watched and with the help of undercover investigators were followed to their warehouses.
In this instance the counterfeit goods were confiscated at the Rand Inn Hotel in Bree Street, where the informal traders were hiring storage space from the owner. According to Mangaliso, about nine traders were implicated and criminal action would be taken against them soon.
It is believed that the majority of the clothing comes from China.
Mangaliso said the JMPD had increased its efforts to clamp down on illegal trade, with the forthcoming Confederations Cup and World Cup in mind.
"We do raids more often now. This [type of operation] will take place on a regular basis to clamp down on counterfeit goods."
The counterfeit goods will be counted before they are destroyed.
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