Georgia to crack down on counterfeit items

Georgia will seek to stop the flood of counterfeit items — cigarettes, clothing and movies — as profits from those sales are going to gangs, international fraud rings and terrorist organizations, the state’s chief law enforcement officer said Wednesday.

“It’s scary stuff,” Attorney General Thurbert Baker told members of the Georgia and U.S. chambers of commerce, meeting in Atlanta.

Baker has assigned a senior assistant attorney general to coordinate with local prosecutors and law enforcement agencies. “We want to see a more aggressive approach,” Baker said.

According to a poll commissioned by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 18 percent of those questioned in metro Atlanta said they had knowingly bought counterfeit items in the past year. That number was much higher — 41 percent — among adults younger than 25.