Officers collected enough bags of bootleg goods in Chinatown on Thursday to load up a flatbed police truck.
Photo courtesy of NYPD
Police seized an estimated retail value of $150 million in fake merchandise from a string of storefronts in Lower Manhattan’s Chinatown during a massive raid on Thursday, the agency said Friday.
The NYPD arrested 17 different people on trademark counterfeiting charges during a sweep of 12 storefronts in the highly trafficked area. Officers confiscated the phony merch, which included fragrances, fake Rolex and Piguet watches, luxury sunglasses, bootleg Knicks apparel, jewelry, electronics and even knockoffs of the viral Labubu plush figurines.
Law enforcement officials told amNewYork that the searches were sparked by a huge spike in quality-of-life complaints from community members and elected representatives.
“The NYPD is committed to improving New Yorkers’ quality-of-life concerns in neighborhoods across New York City,” a spokesperson for the department said. “In response to complaints by local elected officials and community members regarding the proliferation of illegal street vending in lower Manhattan, particularly along Canal Street, the department has continued to take action to hold illegal vendors accountable and improve public safety conditions along those corridors.”
Since 2025, the city has seen a fourfold increase in 311 complaints regarding panhandling and illegal vending in the area. Earlier this month, State Assembly Member Grace Lee (D-Manhattan) led a walkthrough down Canal St. with NYPD, Council Member Christopher Marte (D-Manhattan) and Deputy Mayor for Operations Julia Kerson to survey the area’s issues with counterfeit vendors.
The June 26 enforcement action followed a concerted crackdown on bootleg street vendors in the area. Since May 20, police have confiscated an estimated $100 million in fake luxury items. Thursday’s warrants, according to NYPD, bring that number to an estimated retail value of more than $250 million in knockoff goods so far this year.
The Lower Manhattan hub for businesses and tourist hotspot is famous for its bootleg vendors, with sidewalks draped in white sheets filled with counterfeit handbags, sunglasses, electronics and more.
The underground knockoff market made headlines last year when around 50 federal immigration officials flooded Chinatown in October, targeting and detaining nine illegal street vendors. Following the raid, New Yorkers protested, but without the threat of immigration officials, locals have shared their displeasure over the proliferation of bootleg vendors in the neighborhood with the NYPD.Â
