Over the past weeks local customs officials seized twelve transhipment containers carrying thousands of counterfeit items, they said in a statement.

The items included 14,000 footballs of 3 different trademarks, 11,200 kids clothing items, 30,660 pieces lingerie of a popular trademark, 9,792 bottles of shampoo, 9,030,000 Cigarettes (903 master cases), 23,552 tracksuit bottoms of various popular football clubs, An entire 20ft container with 58 boxes auto spare parts, thousands of wrist watches of various famous trademarks, and 42,000 sports shoes of various popular trademarks

All items originated from the far east en route to North Africa except for the auto spare parts which were destined to head to Albania.

 As for seizures destined to hit the local market, the Customs Department seized 100 game controllers, designer clothes, designer bags and belts, and popular football clubs shirts and tracksuits

"The Malta Customs Department is recognised across the EU as one of the leading European entities in the fight against the counterfeit market