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全球假冒产品规模超过毒品交易

Fake designer brand purses, clothing and even prescription¹ medications are made and sold around the world. Investigators³ say it is bigger business than the illegal drug trade. And police say that when consumers buy counterfeit⁴ items, they could be contributing to the funding other crimes. Many of the counterfeit items from the Pacific Rim⁵ enter the United States through Los Angeles.

全球各地都有仿制和销售假冒名牌包、服装，甚至处方药的情况。调查人员说，其规模甚至比非法毒品交易还要庞大。警方说，当消费者购买一件假冒产品时，他们有可能会资助其他犯罪活动。而他们购买的产品还会对他们的健康有害。在洛杉矶，来自环太平洋地区的许多仿冒产品都是从这里进入美国的。

Bargain hunters flock to downtown Los Angeles and an area called Santee Alley⁶, where clothing, sunglasses, watches and toys pack tiny stores block after block. Santee Alley is also known as a haven⁷ for counterfeit goods.

捞便宜货的人蜂拥般地前往洛杉矶市中心一个叫圣提街的购物者天堂。阿妮塔.格瑞便是其中之一。但是，圣提街还以是仿冒产品的天堂而闻名。

Anita Grey has been shopping at Santee Alley for years. She says she would never buy fake designer products, but she has seen them.

消费者阿妮塔.格瑞说：“我来是为了手提包、首饰和衣服。但他们什么都有。”

“I know years ago when I come down, you would see it. And now, you don’t see it at all," said Grey.

消费者阿妮塔.格瑞说：“几年前我来这儿，还能看得到，但是现在根本见不着了。”

Investigator² Kris Buckner says that is because police have raided stores that carry fake designer goods so many times that people who sell them are more careful.

调查员克里斯.巴克纳说，那是因为警方多次搜查那些出售假冒名牌产品的商铺，店主们更加小心了。

“They’ll come up and offer you the goods, and then they’ll take you to a warehouse," said Buckner.

调查员克里斯.巴克纳说：“他们会主动问你要不要，然后带你去一处仓库。”

For the last 15 years, Buckner has been tracking down people who sell and make counterfeit products. He says the problem is not limited to downtown Los Angeles.

过去15年来，巴克纳一直在追查那些出售和仿制假冒产品的人。他说，这个问题不仅仅局限于洛杉矶市中心。

“You got to look at the global marketplace," he said. "It’s estimated that 10 percent of the goods you’ll see out there are estimated to be counterfeit.”

调查员克里斯.巴克纳说：“你得看全球市场。据估计，你看到的所有产品里，有10%是假冒。”

Buckner says the estimated $500 billion a year counterfeit goods business is bigger than the illegal drug trade, and that it is tied to local streets gangs and international organized crime.

巴克纳说，假冒产品生意规模估计每年5000亿美元，比毒品交易还大，并且还与地方街头帮派和国际有组织犯罪有关联。

“Then you have groups that have ties to Hezbollah, Muslim Brotherhood⁸ and Hamas that have engaged in this activitt, " he said. "The problem is it’s a perfect opportunity for these guys to make money.”

调查员克里斯.巴克纳说：“这些组织和涉及假冒产品活动的真主党、穆斯林兄弟会以及哈马斯有关系。问题是，对这些人来说，这是个绝好的赚钱机会。”

Buckner says criminal elements often make fake goods in the United States in underground sweatshops.

“They will traffic undocumented folks to the U.S. and force them to work in these situations until they pay their fee to come here to the United States," said Buckner.

Deborah Greaves with the designer brand True Religion Jeans warns against buying fake goods on the Internet.

戴波拉警告不要在因特网上购买假冒产品。

“One of the biggest threats that people need to be aware of now is that with the online counterfeiting⁹ is that these [groups] not only are selling you a fake product, but they’re also harvesting all of your personal information," said Greaves. "They have your credit card; they have your address. They have everything they need to steal from you.”

戴波拉.格瑞夫斯说：“我认为，顾客需要了解的是，网上购买假冒产品的最大的危害之一是，他们不仅卖你一件假冒产品，还获取你所有的个人信息。他们有你的信用卡号，你的地址，他们有要从你那儿偷盗的所有信息。”

At the Port of Los Angeles, police seize counterfeit purses, clothing, prescription medications, appliances and cigarettes. Investigators say large amounts of the fake and stolen designer items come from China through ports across the United States, smuggled¹⁰ inside shipping¹¹ containers. Police say that in this port complex alone, more than 14 million containers arrive every year, but they are able to check fewer than 1 percent of those containers.

Deborah Greaves trains law enforcement officers and shows them the differences between a real and fake True Religion Jeans.

名牌服装“真实信仰牛仔裤”的戴波拉.格瑞夫斯培训警察如何辨别假冒品。

“The fabrics¹² are rougher; the stitching is not as neat," she said.

戴波拉.格瑞夫斯说：“布料更糙些，缝针也不整齐。”

Besides the difference in quality, some of the counterfeit products are harmful, says Commander Todd Rogers with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

洛杉矶县警方的托德.罗杰斯警官说，有些假冒产品可能甚至有害。

“When you have counterfeit cigarettes, you don’t even know what the contents are," said Rogers. "And I understand that feces have been found in some of these cigarettes.”

洛杉矶县托德.罗杰斯警官说：“当你抽假冒烟卷，你甚至不知道里面有什么。我知道一些假冒香烟里发现过粪便。”

Police say that to tell the difference between an authentic¹³ product and a counterfeit one, look at where the item is sold and whether the price seems too good to be true. It so, it probably isn't real.

警方说，分辨真的和假冒产品，先看它在哪儿出售。他们说，如果价格太好了，难以让人置信，这产品很可能不是真的。