Law Enforcement Intercepts Counterfeit Gibson Guitar Shipment

It’s been an interesting couple of weeks for Gibson, the guitar manufacturer arguably best known for the iconic Gibson Les Paul. This week, the company sent a cease and desist letter to 16 Creative over the latter’s creation of a Donald Trump-themed guitar with a design that was, to Gibson’s eyes, a little too similar to the Les Paul. It’s not the only recent case where guitars, the government and legal matters converged around Gibson, though — and the other news involves a trove of counterfeit guitars seized at the border.

This week, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol announced that it had seized 3,000 counterfeit guitars at the port of Long Beach, California. According to the announcement, if the guitars had been the genuine article, they would have sold for a total of $18,742,820.00.

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“Counterfeit products harm legitimate businesses, erode consumer trust, and damage the reputation of iconic brands like Gibson,” said Lieutenant William Kitchin of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. “Beyond the economic losses, counterfeit goods often do not meet safety or quality standards, leaving consumers at risk.”

The counterfeit guitars were seized as part of a collective effort, with the participation of the aforementioned Customs and Border Patrol and local law enforcement as well as U.S. Homeland Security Investigations and Gibson itself. Law enforcement intercepted the counterfeit guitars en route from, in Customs and Border Patrol’s phrasing, “ocean containers from Asia.”

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As the Associated Press pointed out in its reporting on the seizure, the agency’s announcement did not reveal several details, including the counterfeit guitars’ country of origin or who might have been behind their creation. Clearly there’s someone out there with the resources to convincingly replicate some of the country’s most recognizable guitars. According to the AP, the government’s investigation is continuing.