Two airline employees are in hot water after more than $36,000 worth of counterfeit goods were discovered at Dulles International Airport last week.
The workers were stopped while trying to clear customs through the expedited Global Entry “trusted traveler” program. Average processing time is a mere 64 seconds.
One worker was caught with 53 pieces of faux designer scarves, purses, bracelets and sunglasses. They sported top-end labels such as Fendi, Louis Vuitton, Coach and Prada. She reportedly purchased them from China.
Ten knockoff Ray Ban sunglasses were found on the second employee.
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Officers seized the knockoffs and stripped both employees of their Global Entry privilege.
“It’s called a trusted traveler program because we place a significant amount of trust in enrollees to continue complying with all customs, agriculture and immigration laws,” said Christopher Hess, CBP Port Director for the Port of Washington. “Violators face consequences; most severe are the loss of their expedited processing privilege and possibly civil penalties or arrest.”
CBP is required to conduct random compliance inspections. That’s how they stumbled upon the counterfeit items.
These two cases mark the eighth and ninth Global Entry compliance violations. Each one involved airline employees. Five of the nine violations involved counterfeit merchandise.
