Well, having been a US Customs Inspector at a major airport, and having come across these fake Rolex imports, I can only add that circumstances determine everything. the man willfully hid the fakes, which implies a knowledge of the law. We called it mitigating circumstances. These different acts increase or decrease the penalty assessed. The max would be about 8x the loss of revenue or higher. The appropriate duty is based on actual value declared, or with knowledge that can be adjusted. Duty is approximately 5.2% of the value. It's more complicated than that, but that's close. So if the guy had 8 watches that might have been worth (if real) 20,000 each. Then the penalty could have been at 8x=$83,000. He got off light. Don't smuggle. As for the number...1. You can bring back 1 (one) fake anything for personal use. It's a bending, not a breaking of the law. More than one, you give one up or we seized both and hammered you.
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Fake Rolex seizure
Well, having been a US Customs Inspector at a major airport, and having come across these fake Rolex imports, I can only add that circumstances determine everything. the man willfully hid the fakes, which implies a knowledge of the law. We called it mitigating circumstances. These different acts increase or decrease the penalty assessed. The max would be about 8x the loss of revenue or higher. The appropriate duty is based on actual value declared, or with knowledge that can be adjusted. Duty is approximately 5.2% of the value. It's more complicated than that, but that's close. So if the guy had 8 watches that might have been worth (if real) 20,000 each. Then the penalty could have been at 8x=$83,000. He got off light. Don't smuggle. As for the number...1. You can bring back 1 (one) fake anything for personal use. It's a bending, not a breaking of the law. More than one, you give one up or we seized both and hammered you.