Officials will fight
Pro Bowl forgeries

Two hundred fake items were
seized in an operation last year

Honolulu police and National Football League officials are gearing up to arrest anyone caught selling counterfeit NFL merchandise for the Pro Bowl this year.

NFL officials said police seized an estimated 200 fake Pro Bowl T-shirts and other items worth an estimated $4,000 last year in Honolulu. However, that's just from those counterfeiters they were able to catch.

"You might stop one, but then two more will run on you," said Lt. Jeff Richards, of HPD's Criminal Investigation Division. "You got guys running through traffic because they know what they're doing is illegal.

"These guys just want to make their money and get the hell out of Dodge."

NFL merchandising attorney Paula Guibault said HPD officials arrested three men for trademark counterfeiting last year after they were caught selling fake Pro Bowl items. She said so far, two men have pleaded guilty to counterfeiting in court, while one more still awaits trial.

"Counterfeiters fly in, do their counterfeiting and leave town," she said. "Last year, we saw that most of the counterfeiters were selling the same design.

"It's a more coordinated effort; it isn't just one person making up their own T-shirt."

In Jacksonville, Fla., host city of this year's Super Bowl, law enforcement officials seized 3,000 fake NFL items worth an estimated $69,000 in the last two weeks.

While those numbers are far beyond what was seized in Honolulu for the Pro Bowl last year, Guibault said fake merchandise sales here could surpass those at any NFL event.

"We are starting to realize the scope of the problem and focus on it in Honolulu," she said. "My sense is that on game day the (counterfeiting) problem at Aloha Stadium is definitely bigger than in a Super Bowl host city, because while the Super Bowl host city changes every year, the Pro Bowl is always here in Honolulu, so counterfeiters can plan ahead."

Guibault said NFL undercover investigators found fake merchandise being sold in Waikiki and at both the Kam and Aloha Stadium swap meets last year.

Anyone buying NFL merchandise is asked to look for a 1-inch silver circle that displays the NFL shield logo in the middle of it to ensure that the items are the real thing.

"Attempts to fake the hologram aren't usually successful," Guibault said. "Also look for misspellings ... the quality of the silk-screening ... and they also tend to use less than all the colors."

Richards said most counterfeiters also will be selling from their backpacks and other small bags because they do not want to get caught with a lot of fake merchandise should they run into police.

"They'll be where all the people are, in the parking lots, while people are waiting in line," Richards said. "We're just going to go out there and monitor and do the best we can. If we have to, we'll arrest them."