A manufacturing and distribution ring that produced apparel in countries such as China and Vietnam, designed to resemble the well-known brand Polo (POLO), imported it, then attached counterfeit labels and sold it domestically has been caught by customs.

Incheon Main Customs announced on the 4th that it had referred four people, including distributor A (64) and importer B (58), to the prosecution without detention on suspicion of violating the Trademark Act.

From late 2024 to mid-2025, A and others are suspected of having manufactured 50,000 counterfeit garments imitating Polo in places such as China and Vietnam and bringing them into the country, with a market value of about 11 billion won.

The investigation found that A showed B samples of genuine Polo apparel and instructed him to have the same designs produced in China without the brand and imported.

B imported the manufactured garments into Korea at 6,000 won per piece and passed them on to C (63), an apparel processor.

At warehouses in the Pocheon and Namyangju areas of Gyeonggi Province, C used embroidery machines to stitch the Polo logo and attached fake labels, completing the counterfeits. A 6,000-won unbranded item was turned into a 170,000-won genuine Polo garment.

Customs seized 50,000 counterfeit garments stored in C's warehouses. It is also investigating on the view that they distributed the counterfeits through regional discount stores and other channels.

Kim Jae-cheol, head of the Investigation Bureau at Incheon Customs, an Incheon Customs official, said, "Products sold at low prices outside official online malls or authorized offline stores may be counterfeit," and added, "We will further strengthen investigations into counterfeit rings linked from overseas manufacturing stages to domestic distribution networks."