Police Shut Down Counterfeit Blue-Jeans Factory in Los Angeles Area
Armed with a search warrant, the Los Angeles Police Department raided a counterfeit-apparel factory where they found hundreds of fake True Religion blue jeans as well as knockoff T-shirts and polo shirts.
Police arrested the factory operator, who was charged with one felony count of trademark infringement, and shut down the facility after the Oct. 21 raid. The man arrested was Nicolas “Nico” Perez, according to police.
Kris Buckner, whose Investigative Consultants works for True Religion to ferret out fake goods, said the Los Angeles denim company suspected there was a local factory knocking off their blue jeans just because of the number of counterfeit blue jeans found in and around Santee Alley, located in the heart of the Los Angeles Fashion District.
“It was a good find,” said Buckner, who participated in the investigation. “It was huge.”
Police received a tip several weeks ago that a factory was operating in the 11300 block of South Alameda Street in Lynwood, Calif., where trademarked clothing allegedly was being made.
The police sent in an undercover operative who, they said, chronicled the manufacturing of fake True Religion jeans as well as T-shirts and polo shirts with labels such as Nike, Affliction, Lacoste and Ed Hardy.
Buckner said police confiscated just under 1,000 finished items as well as tens of thousands of True Religion labels, buttons and hangtags. The police also seized 15 sewing machines, three 18-headed embroidery machines able to work on 18 items at a time, two silk-screen machines and one heat-transfer machine.
“We are very excited because this is one of our first manufacturers that we have found close to home,” said Sandy Beattie, True Religion’s brand-protection manager. Most of the counterfeit True Religion jeans being found at Los Angeles flea markets have been made in China, Beattie said.
Police said fake True Religion jeans sell for $40 to $60 on the street and for $100 to $120 at blue-jeans parties. Legitimate True Religion jeans sell for $165 to $319.—Deborah Belgum
