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Police arrests 3 Ethiopians in Atlanta counterfeit ring bust

By Deidra Dukes

ATLANTA, GA (MyFOX Atlanta) – Thousands of dollars in counterfeit goods were seized at a Newton County flea market. Undercover agents confiscated everything from fake Nike shoes to counterfeit Polo shirts.

Three suspects are facing felony charges. Detectives said the suspects rented booths at the America’s Flea Market in Newton County and were allegedly caught on tape, hawking counterfeit goods.

Detectives said the video captures an undercover officer purchasing counterfeit designer clothes from the vendor in Covington last month.

“Items like these Nike shoes. These are actually counterfeit. Here’s one of these Polo shirts which (are) actually also counterfeit,” said an undercover agent.

The Covington/ Newton County special investigations unit raided the operation on Thursday, confiscating $100,000 in counterfeit merchandise at the facility on Salem Road.

The fake designer duds are now housed in a Newton County storage shed. It’s packed from top to bottom with about 240 boxes.

“They contain clothes and shoes and different items,” said the undercover agent.

The suspects, 27-year old Kidist Demedema, 27-year-old Mussie Asha and 44-year-old Girmawork Abebe — all immigrants from Ethiopia — were arrested Thursday and charged with trafficking in counterfeit merchandise.

Detectives said it’s the second time they’ve busted this operation.

Police said two of the suspects were charged with a similar crime in December of 2007. They were among 38 people charged with selling millions of dollars in counterfeit merchandise.

Those suspects, Asha and Abebe, are being held in the Newton County Jail without bond.

“I did find it brazen that they would do it in the same community, in the same location they got arrested in,” said the undercover agent.

Detectives said the owners of the America’s Flea Market did not know the vendors were selling counterfeit merchandise and face no charges in the case.

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