HARRIS COUNTY – The bust of a counterfeit goods operation in northwest Harris County resulted in two arrests and the recovery of $158,406 worth of counterfeited Trojan condoms and potentially hazardous BiC lighters, Harris County court records reveal.
The owners of Flip Wholesale, business partners 41-year-old Zeeshan Ali and 36-year-old Shehbaj Dhanju, have been charged with trademark counterfeiting.
According to a search warrant affidavit, they operated the business out of a warehouse unit at 17939 Kieth Harrow Blvd in northwest Harris County.
Operating off a tip, the Houston Police Department Major Offenders Division started surveilling their business in December. The investigation involved both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Homeland Security Investigations, a spokesperson said.
“They set up basically a buyback type of deal where they contacted these wholesalers,” Harris County consumer fraud prosecutor Kasie Herring said. “That’s kind of how they were made aware of all of the items that they were selling that, you know, were found out to be counterfeit.”
The tip came from a private investigator hired by BiC because of lighters being sold at below-market prices, according to the search warrant affidavit.
The undercover operation in mid-February recovered 48 cases of Trojan condoms and 371 cases of BiC lighters, according to a search warrant affidavit.
“I don’t think that a regular consumer would be able to tell that these items were counterfeit,” Herring said. “This one seems to pose a greater health risk to anyone who could get their hands on those types of items.”
All along, Dhanju thought the products were real, his defense attorney Jed Silverman told KPRC 2.
“Was there ever a point when he thought they were fake or anything about them seemed fake?” KPRC 2′s Bryce Newberry asked.
“No,” Silverman said. “My client’s position is he’s also a victim, that he was taken advantage of.”
His wholesale business brought in low-priced items from wholesalers all over the world, Silverman said, then re-sold them in bulk.
“When people operate businesses like this... this happens,” Silverman said. “People get duped. It’s tough to institute quality control.”
Herring said it’ll be the state’s job to prove that Ali and Dhanju knowingly had the counterfeit items and sold them.
The exact origins and destinations of the items, including Trojans with expiration dates that didn’t match regulations and standards according to the search warrant, are still a mystery to investigators.
“If these condoms haven’t undergone official testing, then we don’t know how effective they are,” said Nikki Banneyer from Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast. “We don’t know if they’re able to prevent sexually transmitted infections or if they’re able to prevent pregnancy.”
Banneyer recommends always checking the expiration date on condom packaging, inspecting for any holes or tears, and carefully opening the packaging for use as to not cause any damage.
“It’s just really unfortunate for consumers that were wanting to go and purchase safe, tested condoms, and then that may have not been the case because we don’t know how effective these condoms are,” she said.
The random items, which aren’t usually thought to be counterfeit, prompted a warning from Herring for buyers to beware.
“Stay away from maybe the mom-and-pop shops and convenience stores and gas stations for buying these types of items,” Herring said.
Dhanju and Ali have both been released from jail on personal bonds. One of their bond conditions is to have no contact with each other.