At least 250 phony Lionel Messi Inter Miami shirts were discovered in Argentina, according to customs officials, and one person was caught bringing in 50 of them illegally.
According to The Buenos Aires Times, The General Customs Bureau (Dirección General de Aduanas, DGA) referred to a case of an Argentine citizen arriving at Jorge Newbury Airport in Buenos Aires on a LATAM flight from Santiago, Chile, as “iconic.
When the woman was asked by authorities if she had anything to declare, officers searched her luggage and discovered ‘a stunning 50 Inter Miami Messi shirt, all branded and in their plastic wrapping’.
The scanner contradicted her claims that she was in possession of any unlawful products.
According to the article, after being tasked with verifying the authenticity of the jerseys, counterfeit specialists came to the conclusion that they were phony, making them illegal commodities.
Argentinean authorities told The BA Times that although it is legal to import apparel under the so-called streamlined system, the volume of cases discovered in the past week makes it likely that it is being done so for financial gain.
Customs then stated that the woman’s intention was “likely to sell them as authentic and profit illegally from the passion generated by the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner in his homeland” because Messi’s new club jersey is not yet officially for sale in Argentina and the knockoffs were similarly designed to the originals.
Officers noted that in addition to the jerseys, they discovered 2,000 Pokémon cards, three tablets of an unknown chemical, 100 packs of protein, and many cartons of muscle-building supplements in the woman’s luggage.
‘It was all seized by Customs under Articles 977 and 978 of the Customs Code, since taking into account the number and variety of products, we can assume they were being imported with intent to sell them’, an official press release from Argentinean Customs reported.
The Leagues Cup match between Cruz Azul of La Liga MX and Inter Miami ended 2-1 thanks to a fantastic free-kick by Lionel Messi into the top left corner in stoppage time yesterday night.
The 2022 World Cup champion is anticipated to join the MLS in August