$12 million in designer knock-offs seized in raids

Burberry, Hermes and Chanel were just some of the designer brands pirated by counterfeiters who were arrested over the last week in a multiagency crackdown on knock-off operations, authorities said Tuesday.

More than 30 people were arrested and millions of dollars in pirated goods were seized in the raids, including at least 47,000 wallets, watches and other items. If sold as genuine, the total haul would have been worth about $12 million, authorities said.

More than half the bounty came from a single raid in a Santee Alley warehouse in the fashion district of downtown L.A.

“By conducting these sweeps, we hope to increase global awareness of the negative impact of organized intellectual property crimes,” L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca said in a statement.

-- Robert Faturechi