Police net ₱201-M fake footwear

The Philippine National Policecriminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) seized counterfeit footwear worth around ₱201 million and arrested five foreigners in two separate operations in Bulacan recently.

CIDG director Police Brig. Gen. Romeo Caramat Jr. said confiscated were fake Crocs and Havaianas which were part of the follow-up operations on May 24 when the CIDG Field Unit in Central Luzon seized around ₱13.5 million worth of counterfeit Crocs in Marilao, Bulacan.

Caramat said that on June 5, 33-yearold Lian Chang Jiang, 60-year-old Wu Gu Ding, and 64-year-old Chu Jen Huang were collared at the King Sport Property Compound, Barangay Lambakin, Marilao, for allegedly selling suspected counterfeit Crocs.

Seized were 1,311 sacks containing 62,000 pairs of Crocs with an estimated value of ₱180 million.

The following day, CIDG operatives arrested Shuzhen Wang and Zhengfeng Lin after they yielded counterfeit Crocs worth more than ₱1 million during a raid in Warehouse No. 3, Duhat Road, Barangay Duhat, Bocaue, Bulacan.

During the search, Caramat said his men also discovered a warehouse filled with several assorted counterfeit Havaianas, Nike, and Adidas footwear and sandals with an approximate value of more or less ₱20 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,” said Caramat.

He said the suspects and confiscated pieces of evidence were taken to the CIDG office, adding that the five foreigners are facing violation of Sections 155, 168, and 169, Republic Act 8293, otherwise known as the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines.