Fake Ugg boots worth €1.5m seized

An estimated €1.5m worth of counterfeit Ugg boots have been seized from a warehouse on the northside of Cork City.

Such was the scale of the find, gardaí were forced to work through last night to catalogue and remove the footwear.

Around 25 gardaí, including members of the armed Regional Support Unit, swooped in on the premises at Hollymount Industrial Estate at about 10.30am yesterday.

Inside they discovered thousands of boxes packed with shoes, mainly Ugg boots. The operation was led by members of the Cork City Garda Division’s fraud unit who, armed with a search warrant, were supported by detectives and uniformed gardaí from Gurranabraher, and Customs officers.

Superintendent Con Cadogan said yesterday that gardaí had to compile an inventory of the goods before taking them away to a secure place.

“This will be a long and painstaking process which will involve gardaí working through the night,” he said.

It was estimated that three or four lorries would be needed to take the contraband away.

Supt Cadogan said two men, in their 60s and 30s, were arrested as part of the operation.

They were being detained under section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act at Gurranabraher Garda Station for breaches of the Trade Marks Act.

It is the second time in a little over two months that a large amount of counterfeit footware has been seized in Cork.

On Nov 28, hundreds of thousands of euro worth of counterfeit shoes, handbags, and clothes were seized at an industrial park on the outskirts of Midleton.

It is believed those products — which included counterfeit Ugg boots, Jimmy Choo shoes and Chanel handbags — originated in China and were being “upgraded” with designer labels when customs and gardaí raided the warehouse.

The authorities said it was likely the goods from the previous haul were to be sold on the Christmas market, which would have netted the sellers a huge profit.

A Garda spokesman in Midleton said yesterday that after a painstaking investigation, they were preparing a file on that case for the DPP.

Supt Cadogan said it was as yet unclear where the goods seized yesterday were destined to be sold.

“The investigation is continuing,” he said.

The Ugg brand, from Australia, is registered in 130 countries. A pair of genuine Ugg boots can retail here for anything between €150 and €240.

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