Counterfeit Christian Louboutin Shoes Seized By Customs Officials

Thousands of counterfeit Christian Louboutin shoes were headed to retail stores in the United States, but the shipment was stopped by customs officials in Los Angeles.

According to the LA Times, officers at the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles seized more than 20,000 counterfeit Christian Louboutin shoes during the last month. If the fake shoes had made it to stores, they would have had a retail value of about $18 million. According to ABC, the shoes, which were shipped from China, had a domestic value of about $50,000.

The Associated Press reports that customs officials seized four shipments of counterfeit shoes on Tuesday. Another large shipment was caught on July 27. US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Spokesman Jaime Ruiz said that the five shipments came from China and violated the trademarks owned by French designer Christian Louboutin.

Chief CBP officer Guillermina Escobar said:

“The original [Christian Louboutin] shoe is made in Italy… Once we saw it was coming in from China, we knew there was a problem with the shipment.”

Ruiz added:

“They label the shipments as generic shoes when, in fact, they’re bringing over contraband.”

The CBP said that it would destroy all 20,000 counterfeit Christian Louboutin shoes.