More than 3,000 fake Gibson electric guitars have been seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Southern California. Authorities are calling this the largest seizure of counterfeit musical instruments at North America’s busiest container port.
If they were authentic Gibson guitars, the instruments — which were destined for the e-commerce market — would be worth an estimated $18 million, according to U.S. Customs. They were seized by federal officials at the Los Angeles/Long Beach Seaport, a sprawling coastal complex that includes the Port of LA. The massive West Coast port is the busiest of any container port in the US by the number of shipments observed, with cargo worth an estimated $292 billion passing through in 2023.
While the counterfeit products seized by federal authorities were manufactured outside the country, all authentic Gibson guitars are handcrafted and made in the U.S., said Beth Heidt, chief marketing officer at the company.
Founded in 1902 in Kalamazoo, Michigan, the iconic guitar brand has all of its instruments made in facilities in Nashville, Tennessee and Boseman, Mont. – with several generations of artisans behind the more than 100-year-old company, she said.
“This is really emotional and personal for us, because our teams have generations who have dedicated their entire lives to making these instruments,” said Heidt, who described Gibson’s guitar making as a craft passed down from generation to generation within American families.
Among the guitars seized were imitations of designs such as the Gibson SG and Les Paul, and while the majority were Gibson knockoffs, some were counterfeits from other well-known brands such as Fender, Heidt said. She said there were models worth about $2,500 each if authentic, as well as imitations of more expensive Gibsons that would normally sell for more than $10,000.
Federal authorities would not release details about suspects in the investigation or where the instruments came from.
U.S. Customs officials worked with Gibson’s intellectual property experts to determine whether the guitars were counterfeit, said L.A. County sheriff’s Lt. Bill Kitchin, who oversees the department’s piracy division.
Violating the federal statute that protects American consumers from counterfeit products can result in a fine of up to $250,000 and 10 years in prison, said Jaime Ruiz, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Africa Bell, director of the LA-Long Beach Seaport, said the record-breaking seizure was especially notable because the port is the nation’s largest container port and collected $19 billion in duties, taxes and fees last fiscal year. She said finding counterfeits and contraband “in this enormous amount of cargo that arrives here every day is like trying to find the smallest needle in the largest haystack.”
Heidt said seasoned guitarists would easily be able to tell the difference between the fake Gibsons that were seized and the brand’s authentic instruments, from the sound to other elements visible to the trained eye.
“We can pick it up right away and tell it,” she said, describing flaws in the counterfeit products, such as in the finish, a more “thin” and light feel, logo placement, misplaced inserts and flaws in the place of the neck of the guitar. conforms to the rest of the body.
Andrea Bates, a lawyer for the company who is protecting its intellectual property rights in court, said the well-known brand only sells through its website and authorized retailers listed on the site.
In the past fiscal year, more than $2 billion worth of counterfeit products were seized at the Port of Southern California, according to Bell.
John Pasciucco, U.S. Customs’ deputy special agent in charge for Los Angeles, said the sale of counterfeit goods can not only violate intellectual property rights and undermine respected, compliant brands, but also put consumers at risk. They can be made with substandard, even dangerous materials that pose health risks – while they may also be made using forced labor.
Products made with lead-based paint, potentially dangerous counterfeit medications, and counterfeit cosmetics that can cause serious skin reactions are just a few examples given by federal authorities of such potentially harmful counterfeit products.
