New CBP, ICE Enforcement Operation to Target Counterfeit Electronics Imports

A new joint enforcement effort involving Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Justice Department will target illegal imports of counterfeit consumer electronics, said ICE in a Wednesday announcement. The initiative, called Operation Surge Protector, "will focus on electronics vulnerable to counterfeiting, including phony digital media devices, power adapters and consumer technology powered by lithium ion batteries," said ICE. Government "collaboration with industry and external law-enforcement agencies has revealed that counterfeit electronics are a serious threat to public safety on par with fake pharmaceuticals and bogus automotive parts,” said Peter Edge, executive associate director of ICE Homeland Security Investigations. The intergovernmental Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center decided to review its enforcement work in this area after an increase in seizures of hoverboards and other products that use lithium ion batteries during 2016, said ICE.