BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — A local clothing store was caught by undercover agents after selling fake high-end designer items. Agents with the Louisiana Bureau of Investigations (LBI) searched and issued warrants at Best Buy Fashion on North Sherwood Forest Drive.

The store has been on investigators’ radar since 2017 when agents seized hundreds of counterfeit designer items and arrested 50-year-old store operator, Thierno Amadou Diop, for illegal use of a trademark.

According to the affidavit, agents investigated the store again in 2020 to combat the increase of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) violations due to issues surrounding unregulated dangerous counterfeit products. Agents conducted a video-recorded undercover operation to determine that the fake designer items were still displayed and sold at Best Buy Fashion. Agents purchased a pink Gucci bag selling for $45 and a black Versace belt for $40 from Diop, totaling out to $85.

Another agent went to the store on Feb. 2022 and purchased a pink Louis Vuitton purse, a Chanel purse, a Fendi belt, and one Gucci belt, totaling out to $200.

The items purchased by the agents were sold below the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP), appeared to have poor quality, and packaging was inconsistent with the genuine products. The agents also confirmed that both purchases were sold by Diop. The items were sent to another private investigator where it was confirmed that the items were indeed counterfeit.

Diop was arrested on March 15 for illegal use of counterfeit.