Authorities confiscated 22,000 counterfeit Pennsylvania vehicle inspection stickers that were shipped to Northeast Philadelphia, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Thursday. No arrests have been made in connection to them.
The fake decals, which were sent from Israel, were seized by CBP officers on Dec. 16 after state officials determined they were not authentic. Had they been real, the materials would have been valued at $1.4 million.
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The stickers were sent in two different parcels: one with 10,000 decals, which arrived Nov. 26, and another containing 12,000, which arrived Dec. 9. CBP did not say who sent the packages or who received them.
Pennsylvania law requires annual safety inspections of motor vehicles to ensure they meet mechanical and emissions standards, with windshield stickers marking the passing of an inspection.
Customs officials said vehicle owners attempting to circumvent costly repairs to pass inspections may resort to acquiring fake stickers. Possessing a forged sticker in the state is a misdemeanor and violators may face a fine of up to $500 and possible jail time.
"Unscrupulous actors peddling fraudulent vehicle inspection stickers create a very serious public safety concern. Fake inspection stickers mask unsafe motor vehicles that place all motorists on our roadways in harm," Cleatus P. Hunt Jr., CBP’s area port director of Philadelphia, said in a statement.
Pennsylvania State Police told CBS Philadelphia in 2022 that they generally received 40 to 50 complaints annually regarding false inspection stickers. State police did not immediately reply to a request for more recent statistics.