More than 1.7 million fake Pokémon cards found in Rotterdam

Dutch customs (Douane) intercepted more than 1.7 million counterfeit Pokémon cards in a container in the port of Rotterdam. An officer who did not trust the cards raised the alarm, and a counterfeit-goods specialist then confirmed they were fake.

The officer checked the container at the Maasvlakte and saw a large number of Pokémon cards among the goods. The cards looked real, customs said, but the officer doubted they were genuine. A counterfeit specialist came to the warehouse with a real card to compare.

The consignment held 9,300 boxes with 142,800 packs, customs said. Stacked on top of each other, the cards would form a tower 515 metres high.

Customs said the specialist found clear differences: “The differences were obvious. The fake cards made no mention of the brand owner. The colours, the paper and the images were different from the real card as well.”

The container was intercepted in May. The find could only be made public now because the brand owner first had to establish officially that the cards were counterfeit. Customs say the entire stock has been destroyed.