(Photo courtesy of CIDG)
MANILA – Operatives of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) have seized PHP201 million worth of counterfeit footwear products and arrested five foreigners in a two-day operation in Bulacan, CIDG chief Brig. Gen. Romeo Caramat Jr. said Wednesday.
In a statement, Caramat said the first operation at the King Sport Property Compound, at Barangay Lambakin in Marilao town on June 5 yielded 1,311 sacks containing 62,000 pairs of fake Crocs and Havaianas footwear worth PHP180 million.
Arrested during the operation were 33-year-old Lian Chang Jiang, 60-year-old Wu Gu Ding and 64-year-old Chu Jen Huang.
The following day, CIDG operatives arrested suspects Shuzhen Wang and Zhengfeng Lin after they yielded counterfeit Crocs footwear worth more than PHP1 million during a raid at Warehouse No. 3, Duhat Road, Barangay Duhat, Bocaue, Bulacan.
The raiding team also discovered a warehouse filled with several assorted counterfeit Havaianas, Nike, and Adidas footwear and sandals worth around PHP20 million.
“They represent themselves as authorized distributors of those products, inducing the public to believe that the goods offered are original, at a price that is way below the distributor price of the company. Further investigation is being conducted by the detectives of CIDG Region 3 to identify and locate the supplier of the seized counterfeit products,” Caramat said.
These operations came more than a week after the CIDG Field Unit in Central Luzon seized around PHP13.5 million worth of counterfeit Crocs in Marilao, Bulacan.
He said the arrested suspects and confiscated pieces of evidence were taken to the CIDG office, adding that the five foreigners are facing violation of Sec. 155, 168 and 169 of Republic Act 8293 otherwise known as the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines. (PNA)
