Police in east China’s Anhui Province destroyed half a million pair of knock-off Converse and Vans sneakers.
Back in December 2015, police in the city of Bengbu received a tip alleging that counterfeit Converse sneakers that were being sold in some Middle Eastern countries may have been produced in the city. A task force was set up by police to investigate the matter.
A month into their investigation, the task force had uncovered the factory’s location and that it had nine production lines that were manned by several hundred shoemakers daily.
December 26, 2016, more than 200 police officials participated in an operation that produced arrests of four individuals, destroyed the production lines and seized 500,000, pairs of fake Converse and Vans sneakers, which had a market value of $87.5 million. Sixty million fake brand labels and packing boxes were also confiscated.
Additionally, raids in the provinces of Guangdong, Fujian, and Zhejiang garnered another seven arrests and at Guangdong customs, 40,000 pair of sneakers that were about to be shipped to the Middle East were seized.
Police indicated that all the fake sneakers were destroyed.
