US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers and partners have seized more than 3,000 counterfeit Gibson guitars at the Los Angeles-Long Beach Seaport. The guitars would have a retail value of around $18m if they were genuine. 

Local and federal authorities said the successful operation “represents its largest counterfeit musical instrument seizure on record”.

The CBP worked in coordination with US Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) investigators and Gibson representatives. They intercepted the suspected cargo arriving in ocean containers from Asia.

Gibson confirmed that the seized guitars were counterfeit, noting that legitimate Gibson guitars are only made in the US.

Cesar Gueikian, CEO of the iconic guitar company, said: “We are grateful for the hard work that our US CBP officers, HSI special agents and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department investigators are doing to stop counterfeiting.”

He added that their partnership is designed to “help every agency work together to protect consumers and our fans from being misled into counterfeits”.

Cheryl M. Davies, CBP director of field operations in Los Angeles, said: “As we approach the busy holiday shopping season, consumers should pay attention to where they are buying these goods and how much they are paying, and if is too good to be true it probably is.”

The iconic guitar brand is celebrating its 130th anniversary this year. Some of its best known models include the Gibson Les Paul and ES-335 played by the likes of Elvis Presley, Neil Young and Bob Marley.

Gibson instruments are handcrafted in the US at ‘craftories’ in Nashville, Tennessee and in Bozeman, Montana.

Gueikian urged customers to always buy direct from the source, or from authorised dealers. “Our pledge is to protect the consumer and give them the tools to make the journey of playing guitar and making music the most amazing experience,” he said.

Counterfeit instruments not only lack Gibson’s quality, and safety standards, but are also ineligible for warranty protections, Gibson said in a statement.

John Pasciucco, HSI Los Angeles deputy special agent in charge of the operation pointed out: “Intellectual property theft is not a victimless crime. Victims are American consumers, businesses, trademark holders and people who manufacture and sell legitimate products. Often, the illicit proceeds resulting from the sale of counterfeit or unlicensed products are funnelled back to support a broad range of illegal activities.”

In 2023, CBP seized 19,724 shipments containing goods that violated intellectual property rights, this equates to nearly 23m counterfeit goods.

The total manufacturer’s suggested retail price of the seized goods, had they been genuine, was over $2.7bn. Seizures of counterfeit goods from China and Hong Kong accounted for 46% of counterfeit seizures and 84% of the value of counterfeit seizures.

Meanwhile, Gibson has confirmed to Guitar World that it sent a cease-and-desist letter to Trump Guitars owner 16 Creative alleging the design of its guitars “infringes upon Gibson’s exclusive trademarks, particularly the iconic Les Paul body shape”. 

The guitar company produces instruments with slogans such as “Make America Great Again” and claims to be the only guitar officially endorsed by president-elect Donald Trump.