OSAKA -- A street vendor arrested in Hiroshima in September on suspicion of violating the Trademark Law has confessed to purchasing fake Louis Vuitton, Chanel and other brand-name products from a group of brokers in Osaka, investigative sources said.
The sources said Saturday that another street vendor, also under arrest in Osaka, has made similar confessions, prompting the Osaka and Hiroshima police forces to launch a joint investigation into alleged organized smuggling of fake brand-name articles.
The vendor in Hiroshima was arrested on suspicion of hiring a 17-year-old high school girl, in violation of the Child Welfare Law, and was later served a fresh arrest warrant after some 180 fake Louis Vuitton bags and other counterfeit products were found to be in his possession.
According to his and another vendor's confessions, they purchased the items from brokers who are South Korean residents of Japan.
The fake-brand products are allegedly manufactured in factories in South Korea and imported by air freight through Narita airport, after which the brokers keep them at storehouses in Osaka before selling them to buyers or direct to customers by courier service.