We had been working an investigation for several months, identifying retail locations, suppliers, distributors and warehouses of a particular group of counterfeiters. When we had documented all of the pieces of the organization, including solid evidence of their counterfeiting activities, we presented the case to the prosecutor with a request for enforcement actions.
Having been burned in the past by local authorities leaking information, we set up surveillance on the two main warehouses of the target as the request for enforcement actions worked its way through the system. Approximately one hour into the surveillance, we observed workers desperately begin loading the counterfeit products onto handcarts and transporting them to another warehouse approximately two blocks away from one of their stores.
When the authorities arrived a few hours later to conduct the enforcement actions, they found the two warehouses empty. At that point, we showed the prosecutor the video of the products being moved, as well as the new address where the products were being stored. The prosecutor waited in front of the new location while one of his assistants had the judge sign off on a modified search warrant.
Authorities executed the modified warrant later that evening, seizing close to US$1 million in counterfeit goods. Had we not taken out a bit of insurance by conducting surveillance while the search warrant made its way through the system, the operation would have failed and our investigative efforts on behalf of our client would have been for naught.