Smuggling Counterfeit Goods Update

This morning, in our previous post, we mentioned that a formal announcement about the large smuggling investigation would be made today. The announcement has been made.

The United States Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security have announced “that 87 individuals have been indicted and 59 people have been arrested on charges related to international conspiracies to launder money and smuggle counterfeit U.S. currency, weapons, drugs and cigarettes into the United States.”^[1]

Federal and Canadian agents in 11 cities in the U.S. and Canada carried out the arrests, which were the result of two undercover operations conducted under the auspices of the FBI, the ATF, ICE, U.S. Customs, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Department of Labor’s Inspector general, and several state and local law enforcement agencies.^[2]

After the arrests, federal indictments were unsealed in California and New Jersey, which named 87 individuals on charges including violations of RICO statutes, dealing in counterfeit U.S. currency, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and illegal weapons trafficking.^[3]

The investigation conducted out of New Jersey, dubbed Operation Royal Charm, resulted in the seizure of more than $3.3 million in counterfeit currency, $2 million in counterfeit cigarettes, 36,000 ecstasy pills, and nearly 500 grams of methamphetamine.^[4] It is also alleged that a $1 million deal for weapons including pistols, rocket launchers, sub-machine guns, and automatic rifles had been entered into.^[5]

The investigation conducted out of Los Angeles, dubbed Operation Smoking Dragon, has resulted in the seizure of nearly $1.2 million in counterfeit currency. Additionally, the defendants allegedly smuggled $40 million worth of counterfeit cigarettes into the country, along with 9,100 ecstasy pills, four kilograms of methamphetamine, and hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of counterfeit pharmaceuticals such as Viagra.^[6]

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[1] Dept. of Justice, Press Release: Federal Racketeering Indictments Target International Smuggling, Counterfeit Currency Operation, Aug. 22, 2005, available here.
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] Id.
[6] Id.