CBP Officers at IAH seize nearly $9 million in counterfeit FIFA World Cup 2026™ merchandise

HOUSTON — U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced today that officers from the IAH Trade Enforcement Team have seized nearly 20,000 items including jerseys, shorts, shot glasses, hand fans, soccer balls, whiskey decanters and even soccer jerseys for dogs, all of which were Intellectual Property Rights violations, including trademarks owned by FIFA. The total Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price of the counterfeit merchandise totaled just under $9 million. These CBP efforts to enforce our nation’s laws protect American consumers and businesses from intellectual property rights violations.

Specific counterfeit FIFA items identified and seized were national jerseys representing the United States, Mexico, Portugal, France, Germany, Brazil, Spain, Argentina, and Ecuador. 

“CBP has a significant role in protecting American consumers from low quality and potentially dangerous counterfeit items,” said CBP Area Port Director Roderick Hudson. “Consumers should always be informed and know where they are buying their products. Too many global criminal networks are very deceptive in scamming sports fans and harming American consumers and businesses. CBP works tirelessly every day to protect the public, our local economy, and those who play by the rules.”

CBP routinely utilizes intelligence gathering and analysis of past trends before, during, and after major events such as the Super Bowl and World Cup. This enforcement action focused on recipients who accept shipments of goods that violate intellectual property rights of companies owning trademarks and copyrights associated with the FIFA World Cup 2026™ and related merchandise. Similar operations across the country have resulted in the seizure of thousands of items infringing on intellectual property rights.

Most shipments originated from China and were destined for locations both within and outside of the United States.

The rapid growth of e-commerce enables consumers to easily purchase millions of products online, but this access also gives counterfeit and pirated goods more ways to enter the U.S. economy. Counterfeit commodities fund smugglers and organized crime. Consumers often believe they are buying genuine products but soon realize the items are substandard.

In addition to sports-related merchandise, commonly counterfeited items include fake medications, perfumes, cosmetics, children’s toys and costumes, fashion, jewelry, luxury products, and unsafe electronics and automotive parts, which can pose serious health and safety risks to American consumers due to inferior or harmful materials.

CBP reminds consumers to shop from reputable online sources. E-commerce sales have contributed to large volumes of low-value, small packages being imported into the United States. Over 90% of all counterfeit seizures occur in the international mail and express environments, which are channels for small, e-commerce packages destined for the U.S. Many of these shipments contain counterfeit goods that pose the same health, safety, and economic security risks as large, containerized shipments.

To learn more about what CBP is doing every day to protect Americans from counterfeit goods, and more about the Truth Behind Counterfeits public awareness campaign, please visit the The Truth Behind Counterfeits webpage.

CBP protects the intellectual property rights of American businesses through an aggressive Intellectual Property Rights enforcement program, safeguarding them from unfair competition and malicious intent while upholding American innovation and ingenuity. Suspected violations can be reported to CBP here. Intellectual property rights violations can also be reported to the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center at https://www.iprcenter.gov/referral/ or by telephone at 1-866-IPR-2060. 

Follow CBP on X @CBPCentralTX and X @DFOHouston. Visit CBP’s YouTube channel to learn more about how CBP’s Office of Field Operations secures our nation’s borders.