Hong Kong customs officers have seized HK$10 million (US$1.29 million) worth of suspected counterfeit sports and luxury shoes such as Nike, Adidas, Louis Vuitton and Gucci, believed to be intended for overseas markets to capitalise on a demand driven by global mega-events.

“At mega-events such as sports shoes exhibitions, many collectors and enthusiasts will trade items on site, driving up demand for high-quality counterfeit sports shoes,” said Inspector Yeung Tit-fung of the Customs and Excise Department’s intellectual property transnational investigation division.

Officers confiscated 18,000 items linked to nine cases between October 6 and 17, with the total haul valued at HK$10 million, the department said.

Yeung said items seized during the operations strongly resembled authentic ones, making it difficult for consumers to verify what they were buying.

Two male cross-border truck drivers, aged 59 and 65, were arrested in two separate cases for allegedly trying to bring counterfeit goods into the city via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge.

The seized items included shoes displaying brands such as Nike, Adidas, Louis Vuitton and Gucci.