Fake Goods Support Terrorism, Interpol Official Is to Testify

Groups like Al Qaeda and Hezbollah have turned to trafficking in counterfeit consumer goods, like fake Nike shoes, Sony stereo equipment and Calvin Klein jeans, says the top official at Interpol, who is scheduled to testify about the issue on Wednesday at a Congressional hearing. “The link between organized crime groups and counterfeit goods is well established,” states the written testimony by Ronald K. Noble, the secretary general of Interpol, to be presented at the House Committee on International Relations. “But Interpol is sounding the alarm that intellectual property crime is becoming the preferred method of funding for a number of terrorist groups.” The booming international trade in phony consumer goods has long been known and its links to terrorist groups often suspected by government agencies. But Congressional officials said that Mr. Noble’s testimony was the first by a senior law enforcement official to conclude emphatically, on a global basis, that the trade in counterfeit consumer products financed terrorism. Full Story