U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in Rochester, NY have seized hundreds of thousands of dollars in counterfeit merchandise including  fake Panini Prizm rookie cards of Victor Wembanyama.

According to officers at the Rochester Point of Entry, CBP officers had inspected several shipments that contained a variety of  multiple designer clothing, shoes, handbags and watches, as well as Airpods and “NBA branded rookie cards.”  SC Daily has learned there were 29 counterfeit cards of Wembanyama, designed to look like his 2023-24 Prizm base card.

The CPB says all the items were determined to be not authentic and were seized for bearing counterfeit trademarks.  The Wembanyama fakes included Panini trademarks that had been counterfeited in the design of the card.

A counterfeit Victor Wembanyama Panini Prizm card seized by Customscpb and Border Patrol.
The CBP Consumer Products and Mass Merchandising division determined the cards to be counterfeit.

The CPB didn’t say where the cards were shipped from or who they were intended for.

While Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and CPB often tout seizures of counterfeit championship replica rings and team jerseys shipped into the United States, counterfeit sports cards haven’t been part of those announcements.  It’s concerning for the sports collecting world, where cards are bought and sold on 24/7 marketplaces, with rookie cards of popular players selling for significant amounts of money.

Over 52,000 Wembanyama Prizm cards worth more than $8 million have sold on eBay alone since the product was released.

ICE says counterfeit goods are often produced illegally and sold at a profit to fund other criminal activities, often on an international scale.

CBP can detain, seize, forfeit, and ultimately destroy imported merchandise if it bears an infringing trademark or copyright that has been registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office or the United States Copyright Office and has subsequently been recorded with CBP through the e-Recordation program.