79,000 replica sunglasses siezed at LA port

Custom officials have seized nearly 79,000 pairs of replica designer sunglasses in Southern California.

A statement from U.S. Customs and Border Protection says the sunglasses are similar to the Gucci and Emporio Armani shown, which were sized at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

The glasses arrived in three shipments from China. They are not counterfeits but could be confused with the genuine article, say the agency.

Customs spokesman, Jaime Ruiz, says they cannot determine the street value of the sunglasses. But the RRP of a similar-sized shipment of designer sunglasses would be approximately $12million.