Feds Raid Bucks County Flea Market, Seize Suspected Fake Goods
SOLEBURY TOWNSHIP, Pa. (CBS) - Federal authorities are releasing more information about a raid at a Bucks County outdoor market earlier this week that targeted vendors selling cosmetics.
Authorities say federal agents carted off more than four thousand items with a combined suggested manufacturer's retail price of more than $280,000 from Rice's Market, near New Hope.
John Kelleghan, special agent in charge of homeland security investigations in Philadelphia, says consumers don't realize the sale of counterfeit items fuels other criminal activity like drug trafficking and money laundering.
"Those individuals that go to these flea markets to buy these knockoff type products -- although they feel they are getting a product and they're not doing anything wrong with it -- they're actually feeding these organized crime groups," he told KYW Newsradio.
He says sales of bogus merchandise not only hurt the manufacturer but affect the economy by circumventing people who try to do business legitimately.
Last December, a raid at the same market shut down several vendors selling Ugg boots and Burberry bags believed to be counterfeit.
Reported by Brad Segall, KYW Newsradio 1060
