Mike Celizic

TAMPA, Fla. - The contraband lie in heaps on the floor, piled there by more than a dozen federal and local law enforcement officials. The haul's street value was pegged at $500,000, but authorities said that’s just a drop in the bucket on this front of the never-ending war on crime.

The language officers used was nearly identical to that used by drug agents, but the cache of contraband taken into custody wasn’t marijuana or cocaine. It was counterfeit athletic apparel, including hundreds of NFL jerseys complete with the authentication tags, holograms and serial numbers that would lead most consumers to believe they were the genuine article. Instead of being hidden away from prying eyes, this contraband was stacked on shelves and hanging from display racks, waiting for unsuspecting buyers.

The raid was a joint venture spearheaded by the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E.) division. Tampa Police and an NFL counterfeit expert also participated in a campaign against goods geared to the shopping surge for the Super Bowl.

I.C.E. officials invited reporters along for Wednesday’s raid on a kiosk in a humble cinderblock building that houses the “International Flea Market” in Tampa's Sulfur Springs area. An undercover “shopper” had spotted counterfeit goods and agents responded in an organized raid. The agents had expected it to be a small seizure. They were surprised at the huge take of counterfeit NFL, NHL, MLB and NBA jerseys and athletic shoes.

Before the raid, I.C.E. officials said that $200-300 billion worth of counterfeit goods are annually shipped into the United States. They range from cigarettes to athletic gear to electrical cords to clothing, watches and fashion accessories. Like the war on drugs, the war on counterfeiting is a holding action. A division spokesperson said that seizures of knock-off goods represent only about 15 percent of the total traffic.

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“It is definitely not victimless,” said special agent Fred Chow. Investigators following the money trail of knock-off goods have found profits going to organized crime.

“The proceeds are funneled to other criminal activities both here and abroad,” he said.

Sales of knock-offs steal business away from legitimate retailers and jobs away from Americans, he added. The goods, he said, are produced in Southeast Asia, Indonesia and China often by workers in sweatshops.

From the NFL’s perspective, knock-off goods tarnish the league's reputation and ultimately rip off consumers.

An NFL spokesman said the damage is, “to the fan who buys the T-shirt, the graphics will wash away; the local retailer who suffers lost sales.” Then there’s the damage to the league. “Fans associate inferior merchandise with the NFL. We don’t want fans to have a poor experience with anything we do. The NFL is the gold standard.”

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Other leagues and manufacturers face the same problem. Among the goods seized in Tampa Wednesday were knock-off Air Jordan sneakers that were selling for $35 — far below the price of the genuine article. Every fake shoe sold is money out of Nike’s coffers, and when the shoes fall apart, the manufacturer’s reputation is tarnished.

Even to semi-discerning eyes, knock-offs may appear legitimate. In another raid on Monday in a shop in Tampa's Ybor City tourist area, knock-offs were being sold mingled in with legitimate NFL-licensed products. The knock-offs have tags that look official and special holograms that are supposed to indicate the genuine article.