STORY: :: Toronto police reveal Canada's largest seizure of counterfeit soccer jerseys

:: June 1, 2026

:: Robert Johnson, Toronto Police Service Deputy Chief

"Today we are announcing the results of a Toronto police investigation that has led to the largest seizure of counterfeit soccer jerseys in Canadian history. With the FIFA World Cup less than two weeks away. The Toronto Police Service is proactively targeting crimes that tend to spike during major sporting events, including the sale of fraudulent merchandise. Today, I can announce that as part of this investigation, our officers seized thousands of knockoff sports merchandise. Some you see here, including jerseys and flags, and made two arrests for fraud over $5,000 (ed's note: Canadian dollars) and several other charges. The items you're looking at today represent only a small portion of what our officers seized. The total of which exceeded $3.5 million ($2.53 million USD)."

Officers seized over C$3.5 million ($2.53 million) worth of counterfeit merchandise from a Mississauga warehouse, they said, including more than 16,000 fraudulent jerseys and flags bearing fake FIFA, Nike, Adidas, and Puma branding, as well as two counterfeit World Cup trophies.

Two men have been arrested and charged, the police said.