Gangnam Luxury Wristwatch Counterfeit Report Leads to Smuggling Bust

An incident in which a foreign seller deceived buyers by swapping genuine luxury wristwatches with counterfeit products (hereinafter referred to as fakes) led to the seller’s smuggling being uncovered. When the watch-swapping case drew public attention, customs officials, suspicious of the domestic import route of the watches, launched an investigation that ultimately exposed the seller’s smuggling activities.

On the 18th, the Seoul Customs Office of the Korea Customs Service announced that it recently sent Mr. A (in his 30s), a Thai national, to the prosecution without detention on charges of violating the Customs Act and the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes.

Genuine Richard Mille watch and counterfeit watch seized by customs are displayed side by side. Provided by Seoul Customs Service, Korea Customs Service

According to Seoul Customs, Mr. A, in collusion with accomplice Mr. B (in his 40s), is suspected of smuggling five genuine Richard Mille watches worth approximately 3.6 billion KRW from Thailand into South Korea. Mr. B has fled to Thailand and is currently wanted.

Investigations revealed that last year, Mr. A and others entered South Korea from Thailand carrying Richard Mille watches without declaring them to airport customs, intending to sell the watches.

To evade customs inspections, they reportedly sent the bulky watch cases to Korea in advance by mail, while smuggling the smaller watches and certificates hidden on their person and in their bags.

At the time, Mr. A and his associates used Instagram and Telegram to arrange the sale of the watches to a Korean national, Mr. C, and secretly brought the watches into the country. Their intent was to avoid paying approximately 1 billion KRW in customs duties and special consumption taxes imposed on imported goods.

The smuggling was uncovered unexpectedly. The case began when a 112 emergency call was received from a store in Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, reporting that a Thai person was trying to sell six counterfeit Richard Mille watches worth about 4 billion KRW.

Following the report, investigations revealed that Mr. A intended to sell genuine watches, but Mr. C and others had swapped the genuine watches with fakes to deceive Mr. A. As a result, five individuals including Mr. C were sent to the prosecution on charges of special theft and false accusation, while Mr. A was not included among those sanctioned.

However, when the case attracted public attention through the media, customs conducted a separate investigation. Noting that there was no record (declaration) of importing Richard Mille watches around the time the swapping incident occurred, customs, with police cooperation, examined whether Mr. A was involved in smuggling.

This investigation also uncovered Mr. A’s smuggling activities. Although Mr. A initially vehemently denied the charges, claiming he had no knowledge of who or how the watches were brought into Korea, Seoul Customs explained that through CCTV analysis, searches, and interviews with related parties, the allegations against Mr. A and others were confirmed.

A Seoul Customs official stated, “Among the six watches Mr. A intended to sell, one was confirmed to be a personal item he wore in Thailand and was not imported for sale, so it was excluded from the smuggled goods. We are currently tracking the whereabouts of the remaining four watches, excluding one smuggled watch secured by the police.”

The official added, “Customs will continue to strengthen intelligence gathering and analysis activities and maintain close cooperation with related agencies to thoroughly crack down on the smuggling of luxury goods such as high-end watches and jewelry.”