Asian crackdown on fake luxury watches continues

First published: 04-03-2010

The customs agency of Ho Chi Minh City has announced that it has seized 36 wristwatches worth around £20,000 as part of a crackdown on illegally-imported fakes into Vietnam.

Officials at San Nhat International Airport on March 2nd discovered that three passengers arriving on a flight from Hong Kong were carrying what appeared to be undeclared goods.

The perpetrators were named by news agency SGGP as 42-year-old Nguyen Van Tam, 46-year-old Nguyen Van Tu and Nguyen Pham Nhut Thong, the youngest at 22.

Brand names including Omega, Rolex, Patek Philippe, Roamer and Rodania were all discovered in trouser pockets.

It follows several months after one of the most famous watch thieves in Asia was apprehended and sent to jail in Singapore for nine years.

Jerry Ee, a 36-year-old employee with a designer outlet in the city state, stole around £3.5 million of watches on Christmas Day 2008 and went on the run around the continent, taking the 360 timepieces with him.