JOHOR BARU, Dec 11 — The Johor police crippled a counterfeit luxury goods syndicate and seized RM1.41 million worth of fake branded items during a raid on a storage premises at Kompleks Austin Perdana here yesterday.
Johor police chief Datuk M. Kumar said the raid was initiated based on a report by trademark and intellectual property representative Global Trade Shield Sdn Bhd.
He said police detected the syndicate’s tactic of selling fake goods online through social media platforms to avoid the authorities.
“The syndicate resells the imported counterfeit goods sourced from other countries via online channels as a tactic.
“However, police came across the ruse following a raid at 10.30am yesterday, where hundreds of counterfeit apparels, shoes, leather items and accessories bearing the Louis Vuitton, Balenciaga, Gucci and Chanel brands worth RM1.41 million were seized from the premises,” he said in a statement today.
Kumar said five suspects, including the premises’ caretaker and employees, were present during the raid.
He said checks revealed that the syndicate has been actively reselling counterfeit branded goods online using social media platforms from 12pm to midnight for the past four years.
“Each bag, shirt and wallet is sold for between RM350 and RM500. The goods are believed to have been imported from foreign countries,” he said.
The case is being investigated under Section 102(1)(c) of the Trademarks Act 2019, which criminalises the possession of goods with falsely applied registered trademarks for trade purposes.
The case has been referred to the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry for further action.
