The Customs Department has seized nearly 18,000 pairs of counterfeit designer sunglasses and some 6,000 boxes of imitation famous perfumes, following what was described as a lengthy investigation.

The sunglasses were quality counterfeit replicas of Christian Dior, Gucci and Chanel models, while the perfumes seized included Lancome, Hugo Boss’s Deep Red, J’adore, Chanel No. 5 and a scent for men by Giorgio Armani. All the counterfeit cargo was destroyed.

Officials had a feeling that something was not quite right when the declared cargo on the bill of lading did not tally with x-ray pictures of the container.

The container came from the Far East and was bound for Piraeus, Greece. According to the bill of lading of MV Luisiali, the ship carrying the dubious cargo, the container carried 249 boxes of shoes and sunglasses. When Customs officers inspected the container, however, they found 69 boxes which contained 24 pairs of shoes, 6,000 pairs of sunglasses and 4,500 boxes of genuine perfume. Behind these was the counterfeit merchandise – the sunglasses and the perfume – referred to above.

This is the first such seizure of such well-known sunglasses and perfume. Since January the department has intercepted 25 containers carrying various counterfeit items.