On Friday, the National Counterfeit Goods Unit executed a significant operation at a shopping mall located at the corner of Rahima Moosa and Von Wielligh Street in the Johannesburg Central Business District (CBD).
The operation resulted in the seizure of counterfeit goods worth R15.5 million. Gauteng police spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Amanda van Wyk, stated that over 18,000 counterfeit items were confiscated, including shoes, sports apparel, handbags, caps, and perfumes.
In a similar but unrelated incident last week, the Unit targeted a factory on Rahima Moosa Street in Johannesburg CBD, where fake branded clothes worth R6.6 million were being manufactured.
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This operation resulted in the seizure of over 7,000 counterfeit items, such as shoes, clothing, handbags, caps, perfumes, cosmetics, and backpacks.
The police also confiscated sewing machines, an overlocker machine, an embossing machine, a hot press, and a large quantity of labels of well-known brands.
Lieutenant Colonel Van Wyk emphasized that the recent busts are the biggest counterfeit manufacturing plant busts in the past year.
Less than a week ago, another operation in the Johannesburg CBD led to the seizure of counterfeit goods valued at approximately R5.8 million. In the past three weeks alone, nearly R28 million worth of counterfeit goods have been seized.
Van Wyk added that in the last eight months, the National Counterfeit Goods Unit, in collaboration with various crime-fighting partners, has seized over R400 million worth of counterfeit and illicit goods during various take-down operations across the country.
