Three men suspected of selling over $10 million worth of fake Cisco networking equipment have been arrested.
City of London Police today announced the arrests of three men, aged 35, 36 and 38, who were allegedly operating the counterfeiting ring.
A search of the men's homes, as well as an additional premises in Bishops Stortford, revealed a stash of fake networking gear worth over $1 million.
Police say that the trio used an online site and telesales company to import, export and sell fake Cisco products.
Working with police in the UK, US Customs and Border Protection officials seized 40 shipments of suspected forgeries from the group over a two and a half year period.
Det. Inspector Mick Dodge acknowledges the seriousness of such forgery, noting that "Cisco products are used by organisations worldwide to underpin their IT infrastructures."
"Businesses need to have confidence in their supply chains and be aware of the risks that counterfeit products can have on their networks; potentially compromising integrity and functionality including significant network outages."
The investigation has seen collaboration between the UK's Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit, Homeland Security and customs officials in the US, and Cisco's Global Brand Protection Team.
This isn't the first time the Californian firm's hardware has been faked.
In 2010, the US Department of Justice revealed that $143 million worth of bogus Cisco hardware had been seized by law enforcement agencies.
Dubbed Operation Network Raider', the joint initiative saw more than 700 counterfeit equipment seizures since 2005.
