Update 6:50 p.m. June 19: Border police at the same customs check point Thursday afternoon stopped another truck carrying 369 more counterfeit shirts and jerseys originating in Panama. The seizure was valued at over $7,200.
It looks like even smugglers are getting into the World Cup spirit after Costa Rica’s upset victory over Uruguay.
On Wednesday afternoon, Border Police discovered 223 knockoff shirts bearing the red-white-and-blue colors of the Costa Rican national men’s team in a van traveling from Paso Canoas, near the Panamanian border.
Police searched the van driven by a Nicaraguan resident of Costa Rica at the Kilometer 35 checkpoint on the Inter-American Highway and discovered the fake “Sele” shirts and jerseys hidden underneath a seat in the vehicle. Authorities estimated the value of the smuggled shirts at roughly $4,000. The woman, identified with the last names Herrera Aráuz, was reportedly bound for the Central Valley.
This isn’t the first time that Border Police have confiscated 2014 World Cup merch. In May, authorities confiscated a shipment of collectable World Cup album stickers valued at over $8,000 entering Costa Rica from Panama.
