These are the hundreds of counterfeit items seized every year at Pittsburgh International Airport

PITTSBURGH — From Pittsburgh Steeler Super Bowl rings to Penguins jerseys, hundreds of counterfeit items are seized every year at Pittsburgh International Airport.

And you will hear from time to time on Channel 11 news when fraudulent items of significance were discovered.

Target 11 wanted to see how and where these discoveries occur.

Investigators with the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agreed to take Target 11 Investigator Rick Earle with them on a rare, behind-the-scenes look as investigators combed through international packages searching for counterfeit items.

Earle and his photographer met the crew from Homeland Security at a warehouse near the airport where they spent the morning looking at international packages.

“It’s a Ping golf club, but we know Ping is not made in China so we have a pretty good idea already that these may be counterfeit,” said U.S. Customers and Border Patrol Officer Stephen Collins as officers opened and searched packages.

According to Customs and Border Patrol, 90% of the counterfeit merchandise comes in from China and Hong Kong.

On this day, officers confiscated a shipment of marijuana grinders.

“It’s considered drug paraphernalia and unable to be imported into the United States. It’s going to be seized for that,” said Collins.

Last year alone, CBP seized $4.6 million worth of fraudulent or illegal items just in Pittsburgh. Across the county, they confiscated $1.3 billion worth of goods contained in more than 26,000 shipments.

“We don’t know the materials that they’re using, and let’s face it, the people who are making the counterfeit items aren’t interested in your health. They’re interested in making a buck, plain and simple,” said Pittsburgh Port Director William Fitting, who told Earle that the bottom line is protecting consumer health and safety.

“Those are the kinds of things we are looking to keep people from harming themselves, lead paint on toys, or other items that your kid may put in his mouth. That’s a problem. That’s really what we’re looking for. We’re not looking to ruin anybody’s party,” said Fitting, who added it’s also important to protect brand names and that legitimate companies can suffer if shoddy counterfeit items flood the market.

Scammers overseas flying in counterfeit products into Pittsburgh International Airport

During the pandemic the past year, CBP seized 34.6 million counterfeit masks and 178,000 Food and Drug Administration prohibited COVID-19 test kits.

“If you’ve ever had a COVID test, I mean, that goes up into your sinus and if you’re doing that and this is a counterfeit item, you don’t know whether these were done under stringent conditions or was manufactured in some warehouse somewhere,” said Fitting.

The most popular items seized are watches and jewelry, apparel, handbags, wallets, shoes and consumer electronics.

Fitting said they typically don’t seize just one or two items but they are looking for bulk items intended for resale.

Fitting said, “Very rarely are we going after the person who bought one of something, a bag, a jersey. We’re looking at the people are buying cases of things that are in turn selling them as legitimate items, and now the consumer doesn’t know the difference. Because they’re buying it in a store, it must be genuine. And now that brand is going to take a hit because it fell apart in a week,” said Fitting.

But they did confiscate the Pittsburgh Steeler Super Bowl rings that Chuck Dewar, of Glassport, had purchased from a website he found on Facebook.

He knew they weren’t real, but he wanted them for his Steelers display case.

“They were only $99, so I knew that they weren’t going to be authentic. I just kind of wanted them for my display case and you know with the rest of my Steeler gear, just to kind of show off as well,” said Dewar, who became upset when he didn’t receive them and reached out to the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office and Channel 11.

He then discovered on WPXI.COM that the counterfeit rings had been seized.

“I couldn’t believe it. Not getting the rings, not getting the money. You know I guess it’s a, it’s a learning lesson,” said a disappointed Dewar, who indicated that the website looked legitimate.

Earle learned that U.S. Customs and Border Patrol doesn’t have jurisdiction over overseas manufacturers but they have gone after buyers in this country. In fact in 2019, CBP seizures led to 265 arrests and 157 convictions.

Cox Media Group