Armed with a search warrant issued by Regional Trial Court Judge Gabriel Ingles, elements of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) swooped down on Hong Kong Trading and HY Trading on Borromeo street and arrested their managers, a Chinese couple named Yang Hong Jiang and Sun Mei Wei, of Xiamen, China.
The police seized hundreds of boxes and bags of fake Dickies pants, shorts and shirts estimated at more than P500,000.
The raid was prompted by a complaint filed by American Star Apparel Philippines, the licensed distributor in the country of Williamson Dickie Co. of Forth Worth, Texas, the trademark owner of Dickies products.
Acting on the complaint, the CIDG fielded agents who conducted test-buys last week at both Hong Kong Trading and HY Trading, both reportedly owned by a certain Salome Saraosa but managed by the Chinese couple.
Two CIDG teams led by Senior Inspectors Patrick Vano and Richard Caballero conducted the raids.
Saraosa was not around at the time of the raids but the two Chinese were. They, however, spoke no English and spoke through an interpreter. They denied involvement in the operation, saying they were not the owners but merely managed the stores.
Tinchu Jualo, regional sales coordinator of Dickies, said the fake products were discovered by accident in the course of a casual stroll in the downtown area.
Upon discovering that fake Dickies products were being sold openly on sidewalks, Jualo said he immediately initiated surveillance that led him to the two stores.
Jualo said the cheapest genuine pair of Dickies pants sells for P899, while a shirt sells for P499.
On the other hand, a pair of counterfeit pants is sold at only P180, while a fake shirt sells for only P75.
The Chinese couple said they have been in Cebu in the past four years. — Freeman News Service