U.S. border officers in Chicago seized “very realistic” fake law enforcement badges arriving from China in the past week, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said on Aug. 17.
“These counterfeit badges could have led to disastrous consequences. ... Our CBP officers were able to identify these very realistic counterfeits and stop them from reaching their destinations,” said LaFonda Sutton-Burke, director of Chicago field operations. She said the fake badges could be used for “illicit activity under the guise of federal agents.”
Port Director for the Chicago area Shane Campbell expressed concern that such acts could undermine the public’s faith in law enforcement.
CBP said this isn’t the first time it has come across federal law enforcement counterfeits, having seen fake U.S. Marshals badges and others.
Other counterfeit items that agents have seized in the past range from fake currency to COVID-19 related products, including N95 masks.
Those shipments were described as “PAPER CARD, PAPER” or “Paper Greeting Cards” with typos and misspelled Spanish verbiage, the statement reads.
This fiscal year to date, CBP seized 3,017 fake COVID-19 vaccination cards shipped from China, according to the statement.
Officers in Chicago also seized more than 19,000 fake driver’s licenses in the first half of 2020, with the majority entering from China and Hong Kong.
In fiscal year 2019, almost 50 percent of overall seizures by CBP originated from China, followed by 35 percent from Hong Kong.