Over the holiday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Officials swept through southern Florida and confiscated around $76 million in counterfeit goods. The items, which included everything from knockoff Louis Vuitton luggage to imitation Dora the Explorer watches, violated the trademarks and copyrights held by legitimate businesses.

The sweep, called Operation Holiday Hoax II, is notable because the confiscated items seemed to hint that a sophisticated and well-organized operation was behind their sale. As a customs official said,  the ring was quite different than "one person with a suitcase in a corner selling fake watches." She called the counterfeit goods ring "organized crime" and said that while it is understandable that we are all trying to stretch our dollars, every purchase of a knockoff or counterfeit item aids organized crime.

Over six weeks, from Nov. 1 to Dec. 9, officials painted bull's eyes on flea markets, swap meets, pop-up shops and other places that typically sell fake goods. Although 66 cities in the United States were included in the crackdown, 90 percent of the fake goods were confiscated in southern Florida.

Other items that authorities confiscated included sports equipment and memorabilia, purses, shoes, sunglasses and watches.

A second customs official said he would like the public to remember that although a counterfeit item's cheap price may be appealing, it is not likely to be made as well as the genuine article and so will probably not last as long.

Equally true is the fact that counterfeit items infringe on the trademarks and copyrights that companies spend a lot of money and time protecting.

Source: The Orlando Sentinel, "Crackdown on counterfeit merchandise leads feds to the Swap Shop," Ihosvani Rodriguez, Dec. 23, 2011