Customs officers at Vienna Airport have seized 5,121 counterfeit branded items in a major operation, the Ministry of Finance announced on Thursday.
The goods were confiscated from four shipments originating in Thailand, and the affected brand owners have been informed.
The counterfeit goods were discovered during a mid-November operation in the cargo section of a customs warehouse. Among the items seized were 1,402 pairs of shoes, 1,279 bags and backpacks, 415 sports shirts, 378 caps, 193 jackets, 318 pieces of jewellery, 115 belts, 318 tracksuits and 342 pieces of packaging material. The shipments were en route to the UK and the Netherlands via Austria.
Finance Minister Gunter Mayr commented: “Counterfeiting is no trivial matter. These fake products harm legitimate businesses and, often being of inferior quality, also put consumers at risk.”
