YouTube Livestreams from Moving Secret Warehouses... 29 Caught Selling "Counterfeit Luxury Goods"

Livestreamed sales from four different warehouses to evade police tracking
Police raided the site and seized 4,736 counterfeit items

A group that stored counterfeit luxury goods in a secret warehouse and sold them through YouTube livestreams has been caught by police.

According to a Yonhap News report on November 9, Busan Jungbu Police Station sent 29 people, including A, a man in his 40s who owned the warehouse, and 26 YouTube live-commerce sellers, to the prosecution without detention on suspicion of violating the Trademark Act.

Counterfeit luxury goods displayed in a warehouse (left) and a YouTube livestream (right). Provided by Busan Jungbu Police Station, Yonhap News.

A and the others are accused of selling counterfeit bags, wallets and other goods made to look like products from famous foreign brands such as Chanel and Louis Vuitton during YouTube livestreams from a warehouse in Yeonsu-gu, Incheon, from June to September 2026. Police estimated that counterfeit products worth more than KRW 180 million were sold this way over the three-month period.

A bought counterfeit products from famous foreign brands and stored them in his warehouse, which he provided to sellers as a venue for their broadcasts. They ran livestreams around the clock, divided into daytime, afternoon and nighttime shifts. The sellers took orders through real-time comments on their respective YouTube channels and shipped the products after the broadcasts ended, then shared the proceeds with A. A paid the sellers 10% to 15% of the proceeds in cash.

Police found that A used four warehouses, moving locations about once a month to evade investigators. They also determined that he hired B, a man in his 40s, as a warehouse manager, paying him a salary to handle warehouse contracts, recruit sellers and distribute counterfeit goods. Police raided the sales site and seized 4,736 counterfeit items with a genuine retail value of KRW 12 billion. They also shut down all the sellers' YouTube channels.

A police official said, "Counterfeit goods crimes are becoming increasingly organized and widespread, moving beyond simple sales to make use of large warehouses and online distribution networks. We will focus our investigative resources on evolving criminal methods and trace the entire distribution process."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.