More than $650,000 worth of counterfeit Gucci, Chanel items found in Arlington bust

ARLINGTON, Texas - Arlington police say they found more than 100,000 counterfeit items worth more than $650,000 during a bust earlier this month.

The counterfeit patches and iron-on logos in the form of Gucci, Chanel, Barbie and Louis Vuitton among others were found in a warehouse in Arlington in the 500 block of Prairie Street. 

Police say they were notified earlier this summer about an online business — Creo Piece, owned by 35-year-old Oumar Dia — that was illegally manufacturing and selling items with copyrighted logos.

Oumar Dia (Courtesy: Dallas County Jail)

"Private company whose job is to represent the manufacturers and designers, they go out and look for intellectual property rights violations," said Arlington Police Det. Richard Jablon. "They found this website. They did an undercover buy, realized the merchandise was counterfeit and brought it to us as a case." 

Paul Grudzien has a nearby business. 

"He’s been here for a few months, and I periodically stop by and talk to him," he said. "And he had shown me some of what he does." 

"The volume is definitely the biggest one I’ve been involved with and, as far as I know, the biggest one Arlington’s been involved in," Jablon said.

Jablon says when they began looking into it, they realized it was a manufacturing operation. 

"The company that started the case, they send in one of their people with a covert camera and they just purchased a couple of items," he said. "They went back to their store, and they have subject and matter experts that determine that the merchandise was counterfeit." 

Arlington PD says it sent in undercover officers for a bust that ultimately netted more than 100,000 items, including industrial equipment to produce counterfeit logos and clothes.

During the investigation, police say they contacted Homeland Security, which said it had previously seized three shipments of counterfeit items sent to Dia's house in 2021 and 2022 worth $600,000.

The affidavit says Dia admitted to Arlington police he was not authorized to manufacture trademarked items. But despite the equipment police found, he claimed the items seized in Arlington were delivered to him.

"I had no idea he was doing that without permission," Grudzien said.

Dia has bonded out of jail. 

Authorities say if the number of items seized had been made by original designers, the value would have been over $47 million.