Group Smuggles Fake Jordans Worth $73 Million Into U.S.

A group allegedly smuggled nearly 400,000 pairs of fake Air Jordan sneakers into the U.S. from January 2016 through March 2018. Had the shoes been real, they would've been worth $73 million.

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Fake Air Jordan 11 Heiress

A group of five individuals in New York have been arrested and charged with smuggling containers of fake Air Jordans into the tri-state area with a complex operation dating back to 2016.

According to ABC News, Kin Lui Chen, Jian Min Huang, Miyuki Suen, Fangrang Qu, and Songhua Qu were responsible for trafficking 42 containers of the counterfeit Jordans from China into New York and New Jersey. In all, the group shipped 385,280 pairs of the sneakers from January 2016 through March 2018.

Had the shoes been the real deal, they would've been worth around $73 million at a rate of $190 per pair. 

More than just a trafficking ring, the group went to great lengths to produce the fakes, with prosecutors detailing a plot in which the defendants allegedly added logos and details to the shoes in warehouses located in Brooklyn and Queens.

"The five defendants in this case allegedly counterfeited over $70 million in fake Nike shoes and sold them to buyers on the U.S. market," said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman in a statement. "I commend our law enforcement partners for helping to bring today’s charges, which send a clear message to would-be counterfeiters: 'Just don’t do it.'" 

Each member of the counterfeit crew is now facing a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.