Asian Nations Are Principal Source of Designer Knockoffs
Most of the counterfeit goods sold in the United States are made in the Far East and shipped to several main points of entry. The top countries of origin include China, Korea, Taiwan and the colony of Hong Kong, with New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Miami as the usual destinations for shipments.
Importers ship goods to assembly places--sweatshops and makeshift plants in garages--where many counterfeit items are given designer labels, logos and tags.
When finished, the goods are delivered to wholesalers, who in turn sell them to individual street vendors and flea market operators.
More facts about fake goods:
* New York is considered the largest center for retail sales of counterfeit goods in the nation.
* Police estimate there are 10,000 unlicensed merchandise vendors in the city, compared to 850 licensed vendors. Of the unlicensed sellers, nearly half deal in designer knockoffs.
* Largest busts: A counterfeit T-shirt factory in Manhattan where 1 million shirts valued at $4 each were seized and a Queens, N.Y., factory that churned out $3 million a year in knockoff shirts, sweat shirts and jeans.
* Nationwide, U.S. Customs officials seized a total of $45.8 million in counterfeit goods in 1993. Of that, $19.7 million came from the No. 1 exporter, China.
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