You might say they're like a valet service for trains.

But before we step inside to see how it's done, I got a close-up look at how U.S.

Customs and Border Protection officers wage a daily battle to protect American consumers and the economy.

This may look like a typical warehouse, but I assure you it is not.

We are at an undisclosed location operated by U.S.

Customs and Border Protection.

Think you can get pirated goods and counterfeit stuff into this country?

Well, the people working in this building beg to differ.

This is the first line of defense.

Counterfeiting is a multi-billion dollar a year global business and a major problem for our people and our economy.

The counterfeiters don't pay taxes and often support criminal activities.

But U.S.

Customs and Border Protection is making big gains in the effort to stop the flow of fakes.

Logging more than 1,000 trade seizures at the Los Angeles Long Beach Seaport Complex last year alone.

That's a domestic value of 37 million dollars and an increase of 18% over 2010.

We

are here with Customs Officer Brian Nackado.

And Brian, this is a place you guys affectionately refer to as the museum.

What does it represent?

It just reflects upon the hard work that these officers put in day in and day out to um protect the American economy and the trademark holders that trademark these items.

Now with some of these handbags, how do you tell the difference specifically with like a Louis Vuitton right here?

Well, this one's a dead giveaway because the stitching over top of the uh logo.

You won't see that from a genuine Louis Vuitton.

We're looking at headlights here.

Why are these in this museum?

Well, as CBP we enforce 400 laws for 40 different agencies, and uh these unfortunately did not meet Department of Transportation specifications and weren't in fact season.

And they were too bright, they're too bright and could pose a danger on the road.

Now, this is one of my favorites.

As you can see, it looks like a convincing Duracell battery.

But when you pull this out and you see this cute little pink bunny at the top, Brian, little pink bunnies don't belong in a Duracell, do they?

No, I do not believe their competitor authorized the use of that bunny on this battery.

No.

Energizer wouldn't be very happy about that at all.

All right,

Brian, now we've seen the museum.

Where are we headed next?

Uh we're gonna take a walk down to the warehouse to see what the physical exams actually take place.

And while we're down there, you're gonna see some very interesting things.

Sounds good.

Let's check it

out.

We are in a 315,000 square foot warehouse called the Central

Examination Site.

You want to translate that for us?

Yes, put it simply, this is containers that are selected for examination are brought here, physically unload it and inspect it.

Now, how are these things selected?

I mean, do they pick them out when they hit the dock?

No, uh after September 11th, one of the one of the new implementations was that 24 hours before a vessel leaves a foreign port, the manifest has to be transmitted to uh customs and border protection.

And from there, the officers go in and they target and they look for recent trends.

They select those containers and they are then brought here.

Now, this is one of the containers that was selected for

examination over at the port.

It still has the original seal from the shipper that sent it over.

These guys are gonna bust that right off, and the process has begun.

Now

I think everybody will recognize

these.

Mercedes grills?

Yeah, this is the Mercedes logo.

However, Mercedes is manufactured in Germany.