DERRY - Four New York residents were arrested after a police sweep of five stores at Hillside Plaza Friday afternoon turned up numerous items that carried counterfeit designer logos.

According to police, detectives were investigating a report that some stores at the Route 28 plaza were operating without proper town permits and selling counterfeit designer goods. When they went to the shops shortly after 2 p.m. Friday, “Detectives found in plain view numerous items on display that were readily recognizable as ‘knock off' items,” a press release stated.

Purses, scarves, jewelry, sports apparel and footwear with counterfeit logos of designer brands such as UGG, North Face, Ed Hardy, Burberry, Dolce & Gabbana, Versace, Chanel, Prada, and Louis Vuitton were for sale, police said.

After obtaining a search warrant for the stores, police seized thousands of items as evidence and arrested two men and two women who manage the businesses.

The four, charged with dealing in counterfeit goods, were Man Pheng Ma, 53, of New York, N.Y.; Shao Xing Yu, 46, of Fresh Meadows, N.Y.; Wen Ping Yu, 48, of Flushing, N.Y.; and Cai Yu, 43, of Flushing, N.Y.

The four were taken to Rockingham County jail, where they are being held on $5,000 cash bail pending arraignment in 10th Circuit District Court in Derry on Monday.

Police said the items seized were “similar if not identical” to goods seized by police in raids of vendor tables at Grandview Flea Market before it closed earlier this year.

In New Hampshire, it's a Class A misdemeanor to display such items for sale on a first offense; it's a Class B felony for a subsequent offense.
Earlier on Friday, a fifth person was arrested in connection with the same investigation.

Okwudilichuk Okeke, 55, of Stoughton, Mass., was arrested for dealing in counterfeit goods after police stopped his car on Route 28 and discovered “several large trash bags full of counterfeit purses” that were allegedly purchased from one of the Hillside Plaza stores.

Okeke was released on $1,000 personal recognizance bail. He will be arraigned on Jan. 8 in the Derry court.