ICE and Counterfeit Goods

When the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) was disassembled and taken away from the DOJ, its dissolution created three new agencies, all housed under the Department of Homeland Security: USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services), which handles the immigration and naturalization function of the old INS; CBP (Customs and Border Protection), which handles the border-guarding role; and ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) which … well, which does a lot.

ICE agents can be found in all sorts of situations, ranging from federal drug arrests in San Juan, Puerto Rico to raiding flea markets across the country looking for counterfeit CDs to investigating the owner of a convenience store in California for selling pirated DVDs. (Re: drugs, see this.  Re: counterfeiting, see this.)

And recently, in Houston, two brothers pleaded guilty to selling counterfeit Cisco brand products.  (Press release.)  Punishment for trafficking in counterfeit goods is pretty steep: up to 10 years in prison and up to $2,000,000 in fines for a first time offense.  See 18 U.S.C. § 2320.